Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I don't own Glee or any of its franchise - I just dabble in the creative sandbox.

Unbetaed but let me know if there's any glaring mistakes.

CHAPTER 1

There are some things in life that I know for certain. One, I'm absolutely awesome. Awesome, there's no denying it. Two; when you least expect it, life will throw you a big ass curveball and everything will be shot to hell.

Which kindda brings me to this next moment.

"Noah, I'm pregnant."

The second the words left her lips, I simply did what any guy would do. Nodded politely and then turned tail and ran for the nearest place that I could be alone. Except, I wasn't really given any privacy. How I even expected that with this chick is really beyond me.

Her tiny physique is all muscle, so when she laced her hand around my wrist and didn't let go, I knew I was screwed.

"Berry, get the fuck off of me." I growled, trying –and judging from her narrowed eyes, failing miserably – to intimidate her.

"Look," Berry whisper-yelled at me, uncaring if there was anyone around. I cast a quick glance and breathed a little easier when I realized we were in fact alone in the parking lot of McKinley high. "I've been battling with this for what seemed like forever. Ever since our little…well, I'm sure even a man with your astounding ability to woo every girl you lay your eyes on, would be able to recollect that unspoken event that happened between the two of us during our brief and subsequently doomed relationship."

I raised my brow, looking into her brown eyes with a matching smirk on my lips, "First of all, I didn't understand half of what you just said. Secondly, I meant it when I told you to let go of me. Thirdly; you didn't finish your point…"

Berry blushed; a blush I knew from personal experience could reach all the way down to her boobs and make them a nice pinkish color. Okay, note to self; do not think about Berry's boobs. Somewhat reluctantly, I tuned back in to listen to her talk.

"My point was simply that I got pregnant during our time together and having spent what seems to me like forever, thinking about what to do, I've decided to tell you. Also, I decided to tell you now in the presence of no one but ourselves, so that you wouldn't lose any of that popularity that you and others of your kind deem so important."

"Hey," I held up my hand to keep her from spewing yet another long winded speech that I really couldn't digest properly at that moment. "All I got from that was 'pregnant'."

Berry actually stomped her foot, directing my frozen mind to her knee socks and that one evening where I'd spent way too much time on removing them from her incredibly soft skin and enjoying every second of it. "You are absolutely infuriating; we need to figure something out! I will expect your call tonight once your intelligence has returned."

And with that, she was gone and I just stood there like a stupid ass. Seriously, I even think my chin was touching the ground, it was that open or whatever.

Somehow, don't ask me how; I ended up back in my own bed in my bedroom, staring up at the ceiling. The only thing going through my head was, shit, shit, shit, I got Crazy Berry pregnant.

If anyone had told me just a few months before that I'd even look twice at Rachel, let alone rock her world and knock her up, I'd have laughed in disbelief and then kicked whoever said it so hard that their head would come tumbling off.

I sighed and grabbed one of my weights and started exercising to clear my head. It always worked in the past. A few minutes later, I threw the damned thing on the floor and settled back down on my bed and muttered morosely, "shit, I got Crazy Berry pregnant..."

I know it sounds really, truly, weird, but at the time it seemed like such a great idea; sexing the admittedly really hot jew up, but to even begin to figure out how I ended up in this situation; you should probably know how it all began in the first place.

So let's turn the clock backwards a bit; it all started when McKinley High School's Spanish teacher took over glee club. Hell, it all started with that stupid glee club…

TBC...

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CHAPTER TWO

Well, first things first. The whole thing with glee club and its loser followers wouldn't even have been a blip on my radar, if it wasn't because of Finn.

Finn Hudson, my best and oldest friend. He and I grew up practically in each other's houses and he was there for me when my old man ran off to never be seen again. And I kicked anyone's ass that even brought up the fact that his dad had died. He's a good guy; actually he's probably the definition of a good guy.

Anyway; Finn somehow got roped into joining the glee club. He lied to me about it and acted like a total dweeb. I snuck into one of the club's rehearsals and looked on in disbelief how my gangly friend was seemingly having the time of his life among the lowest of McKinley's hierarchy – especially with one Rachel Berry.

I turned and left right then and there, hating that I actually felt like punching something in frustration over Finn's newest interest. I felt like the dude had just abandoned our lifelong friendship and not to sound like a total chick; I was bummed.

So of course I went to a party to get that out of my system and that's when things started to get complicated.

Long story short; I spotted Finn's wanna-be-pure-but-really-not-girlfriend, head cheerleader Quinn Fabray and within a few hours we'd had some ok sex in one of the bedrooms and I went home feeling like a fucking idiot.

I went back to my usual routine with renewed energy, showering Berry with slushies because she's really annoying (and she looks pretty hot whenever she's drenched and wearing a white shirt, I'm just sayin'). I fooled around with my actual girlfriend at the time, Santana Lopez and pretty much terrified all the losers at the school with no problems what so ever. Business as usual, no matter how guilty I sort of felt on the inside.

I even managed to high five Finn when he acted like a blushing prom queen with her granny pannies still on and told me he'd finally managed to "make love" to Quinn at his room while his mom was at work the night before.

Then Finn came up to me with honest to God tears in his eyes not too long after that and told me that Quinn was pregnant and I freaked out. Was the kid his? Was it mine? What the fuck?

I immediately sought out Quinn, but she pretty much told me that no matter whose kid it turned out to be, it would never be publically announced as the bastard child of a Lima loser. Bitch…

Since I'm not a total douche, like my old man, I wanted to be around Quinn in case she needed me or changed her mind or whatever. So when she joined glee club to apparently "keep an eye out for Berry's freakish stalker tendencies", I went along with her.

That's where things turned very, very complicated.

To sum it up; that's when I first got to legitimately know Rachel Berry and I before long I had this awesome dream that was totally a message from God telling me to nail her hot ass. So I set out to do just that, after all I had to relieve some pressure after Santana dumped me because of the lamest reason ever.

The day I set my plan in motion and thus totally fucked up my life beyond my wildest dreams, I followed Berry home from school and she showed me around her house. To my relief, she quickly informed me that her, "two gay dads were not at home and wouldn't be arriving until later that week due to some unfortunate mix up at the conference that they'd been attending together."

It's not that I have a problem with her dads. I don't care about gay dudes at all; hell I pretty much encourage them because it only means that there's gonna be more available chicks for me. But I've never been comfortable with Black Mr. Berry since he witnessed my big meltdown one night right after my old man left. Ever since then, he's always gone out of his way to smile politely when he sees me around town and one time, he even bought me a slushie when I stood in line behind him at the convenience store.

Yeah, the irony wasn't lost on me either…

Anyway, as soon as the big tour was over, including the extremely detailed (and did I mention boring?) story about some lame ass musical I'd probably never see anyway, Berry led me upstairs. I had a firm grip on my guitar as I entered her room, not quite sure what I'd see. This was Rachel Berry's room after all. It was pretty much every straight guys' worst nightmare; big, fluffy and yellow.

But contrary to the rumors floating around at the richer part of school, my momma didn't raise me in a barn; I could be polite and crap. "Nice digs," I muttered with what I hoped was a sincere looking smile.

Berry beamed; I mean literally beamed at me in return so I relaxed and unceremoniously planted myself on her big bed. It was a really comfy bed and I'd be lying if I didn't say that I immediately had vivid ideas about what I might be doing on that bed later. But I banished them for the moment and obediently started playing Christina Aguilera when Berry demanded it. I figured it wouldn't take more than maybe a half an hour tops and then I'd make my move.

Of course, Berry's obsessive nature hadn't really factored into my plans and that's why I finally gave up after three straight hours of playing and listening to her sing along. So after I'd gone over one of my new fantasies of ripping that damned hairbrush that she was singing with out of her hand, and then proceed to devour her sexy lips, I stopped playing and just took a chance.

"Wanna make out?"

A few minutes later, I knew I was in trouble. The girl could kiss. Whoa. Her plush lips were warm and soft against mine and before long I could barely remember my name, I was that into our little make out session. It completely blew my mind. I mean, I was suddenly desperate to feel more of her and my hands trailed up her sides and landed on her breasts without any real thought process on my part.

She in return made this little sound that went straight to my crotch, but before I could go any further she'd removed my hands and placed them on her waist. I sighed inwardly and worked with what she'd give me. I turned my head a bit and slipped in my tongue to taste her and evidently that's something I should have done from the start because Berry went wild.

We were full on frenching and I'd traveled back into Boobsville with no repercussions. Things got pretty heated after that and before I really knew how, we were both naked and I was pressing the tip of my dick into her slick warmth.

I did have the presence of mind to stop at that point and look into Berry's surprisingly beautiful eyes and ask, "are you sure?" before I finished what we'd started. Fortunately, the girl nodded as in a daze and I slipped inside of her with one hard thrust; swallowing her pained whimper with a kiss when I broke her hymen.

It nearly killed me to keep still while she got used to the feeling of me inside of her, but eventually she started moving hesitantly and I took that as a sign to continue. And that's what I did. Her moans and little gasps were driving me wild as I began to move more and more frantically; I could feel my orgasm coming closer, but I'd be damned if I got off first. I was a legitimate stud, remember.

The keening sound she made as her orgasm rushed through her a little while later, fueled my own and I felt more spent than I could remember being before when I reluctantly slipped out of her and laid down on the bed.

"That," Berry began after a few moments of unusual silence from her part, "was…"

I was mentally patting my back, smiling smugly over the fact that I'd actually succeeded in going all the way with the second hottest Jew in Lima, when I heard a sniffle.

My neck almost snapped when I instantly turned my head to look at Berry. To my growing horror, the chick looked like she was trying her hardest not to cry.

"Hey," I sat up, not caring that I was naked because, let's face it, I have nothing to be ashamed of. "What's wrong? Was I too rough or…?"

Berry didn't quite meet my eyes when she denied it and some part of me really didn't like seeing her like that, so I reached out and gently cupped her chin and turned her head towards me. A thought occurred to me and I almost shuddered at the very idea, had I misread her signs? Had I actually hurt her?

"Look at me, Rachel," I ordered quietly, not realizing at first that I'd used her first name. The look she sent me somehow cut through all the bullshit I would've normally tried to pull out of my ass and I had this inexpleable urge to make her feel better. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't hurt me, Noah," she whispered and I could finally breathe a bit again. But then she continued and I felt myself tense up once more. "I'm sorry that I'm behaving so irrationally after our…Well, I was by no means against it, but I suppose it wasn't what I'd expected."

I didn't get a chance to say anything, because she hurried on and mentioned the one person I considered my brother, but really didn't want to talk about at that particular moment.

"I must admit, that I'd always imagined that Finn would be the one to share this special moment with me."

Despite the fact that I knew that I'd screwed things up with Finn, I suddenly had this insane desire to go kick his ass. Luckily, Rachel's voice brought me back to the present. "…wasn't great, because it really was. It was just a lot more impulsive than I'd imagined. There were no rose pedals or soothing music in the background. I'm sorry that I'm acting so peculiar Noah. I hope you'll bear with me."

Putting Finn and all it entailed out of my mind, I nodded and decided to try and convince the little starlet wanna be that being impulsive wasn't all bad. I stood up and grinned, "Now that the talking is over, let me show you that romantic beds and shit isn't the only places to be "impulsive" in. I think I remember seeing a pretty big tub during your tour earlier. Wanna join me?"

Rachel looked at me like I had lost my mind, like she'd expected me to just grab my clothes and my guitar and hightail it out of there. I'll admit that there was a small part of me that wanted to do just that; but I was sort of dating the girl and I guess she wasn't all bad so why should I leave?

I spent the night at her place and we were 'Impulsive' a few more times during those hours and I kindda felt like we could be together a bit longer than I'd originally thought.

That plan was all shot to hell a couple of days later, when after some pretty intense days with getting slushied in the hall like some common geek and chosing glee over football, she found me on the bleachers and dumped my sorry ass…

She claimed that she was in love with Finn and that she'd seen my looks at Quinn when I though no one was looking. I clenched my fists and shot off some lame comeback, but she didn't buy it. I briefly debated telling her about the whole Quinn deal, but for some reason I didn't want to see her eyes turn dark and disappointed before she'd brighten up and run over to Finn. No way. Instead, I lashed out when she spewed some crap about wanting to be friends and left her alone on the bleachers.

We pretty much went our separate ways after that. Until now that is.

I blinked and came back to the present, lying on my bed, staring unblinkingly up at my ceiling. So, I thought tiredly, I might be the father of Quinn's baby; I'm definitely the father of Berry's baby, which means I'm in deep shit.

I sat up and pulled out my phone from my jacketpocket, I scrolled down my contacts until I found Berry's number. It only rang once before it was picked up and I, trying to sound a bit more in control than I really was, informed her calmly, "I guess my intelligence returned at last. What now?"

TBC…

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CHAPTER THREE

The next morning was pretty much the first day in years that I hurried to school. I'd made plans with Berry to meet up with her in the choir room for a chance to talk some more. Thank fuck my mom wasn't home or I'm pretty sure she'd have had a stroke or some shit.

Yawning so wide that I could hear my jaw complain, I walked into the choir room and immediately Berry jumped up from her place by the piano and turned towards me. I quickly scanned her from top to bottom, lingering a bit at her boobs. What? I wanted to see if they'd started to grow yet.

"Noah, thank you for coming," Berry's clipped tone of voice told me that she'd definitely noticed my wandering eyes. I shrugged mentally and looked into her eyes with a smirk plastered on my lips.

"You have no idea how you're setting yourself up for some crudeness are you? Coming? It really was my pleasure Babe." I grinned a moment later, when she seemed to finally realize what I was talking about and crossed her arms over her chest. Again, I couldn't help remembering that the blush covering her cheeks could go a lot further down her body, but I forced the image out of my mind like a fucking champion.

"Your crude remarks aside, I'm happy that you seem to be so willing to discuss this whole thing, I'm still completely confused to be honest."

Argh shit, why is it that every time I look into those dark eyes of hers, I get this weird urge to make her feel better? I ran a hand through my 'hawk and sat down next to her on one of the chairs. "I just need to know what you're planning. I'll…err," Damn I hated to sound like such a pussy, "I'll support you whatever you decide."

To my surprise, Berry didn't immediately launch into one of her huge lectures about why she should either keep or get rid of the baby. Instead, she kept her eyes trained on mine, and I once again noted to myself that her eyes were actually sort of beautiful. After a long minute, she finally spoke quietly, "Thank you Noah. I needed to hear that."

We fell into a somewhat comfortable silence. I had no idea what else to say. After I'd called her last night and pretty much told her, I'd come through for her, I had no plans for the next step. And there was also that tingling speck of guilt inside of me that reminded me of Quinn's situation. Did I tell Berry?

"What do we do now?" The words left my lips before I even had a chance to think about it.

Berry sighed heavily next to me, "Well, I suppose I'll have to tell my dads'. And then help you tell your mom, I guess."

There was this flare of something inside of me, something that I couldn't name; other than the fact that I was freakishly relieved that she seemingly had no problems with admitting that the kid inside of her was mine too. "Yeah," I agreed when she looked at me with questions in her eyes."

Although," Berry bit her lip for a second and then continued, "I do think we should keep this to ourselves for the time being. I just don't want to announce it yet. I mean, what if principal Friggins will cancel glee due to not only one, but two teenage pregnancies in the club? I have no intention of creating more havoc in our day to day lives."

Figures, she'll be hung up on Glee, I thought and debated inwardly whether to comment on the way she had her priorities set, but first I had to fight off this growing anger inside me. I didn't want to hide anything that had to do with my kid. I wasn't ashamed and the more I thought about it the more I wondered if maybe, despite her words, Berry was embarressed about having my spawn.

"Don't look at me like that," Berry's unnaturally quiet voice halted my swirling emotions and I blinked back to the present. I felt shock run through my entire body when she added intently, "I do not have any intention of hiding my child's father for any other reason than I would like to act as though I am not pregnant for as long as possible to keep my current activities up. Now more than ever, I'll need a good GPA and all that. I'll have to finish school and still be accepted onto a college that will lead me to my inevitable way to stardom. Also, the better grades the better the chances of getting into a place where I'll still be able to manage having my child with me. And you will obviously need a decent plan yourself for when the baby comes because your assistance will be paramount."

How is it that this tiny female just somehow gets a read on me without even trying? I was floored that she'd somehow read my state of mind and then effortlessly cut through all my insecurities, reminding me that she had way more to deal with than me. Unlike me, she'd always had a future and now, instead of making sure that our baby would simply turn into a nice, clean abortion, so she could keep that path in her life, she was already making plans on how to keep the child and create a new future.

"You're kind of awesome, Berry," I whispered in the following silence.

Berry shrugged with a wry smile on her lips and I couldn't help but ask, "What?"

"You know," she replied getting to her feet when the warning bell rang, "considering that you and I have something that will undoubtedly keep us in each other's lives from now on; you should probably get used to saying my first name. It's Rachel, in case you've forgotten. Raaacheeelll."

Who knew Crazy Berry had humor? I think I'm losing my mind. I'm serious; look up dumbfounded in the dictionary and there's gonna be a picture of me with my jaw hanging open.

"Fine. As you wish, Rachel." I conceded a moment later; with a smirk that I had a feeling was closer to a smile than I'd want to admit out loud. "I'll see you later."

Berry nodded and beamed that big ass smile at me again, like I'd just saved her fluffy kitten out of a tree, and I was overcome with a rush of something that I didn't really want to examine too closely and quickly made my way to the first class of the day.

0o0o0

I strolled into class feeling pretty damned good. Okay, so my life was sort of in the crapper and I had way too many future issues to deal with, but still; I was feeling good because Berry…No, Rachel, wanted my help and she didn't even sound doubtful that I'd give her some decent help.

Of course, my mood soured a bit when I scanned the room and locked eyes briefly with Quinn. She was downright scowling at me, like she could sense that I wasn't down at that particular moment and that it was like a personal offence to her. Like I said, Quinn's a total bitch. Hot, but not exactly the warmest person out there.

I swallowed a smug smirk when the memory of her thrashing on all fours in front of me flashed through my mind. I'd at least cracked some of her perfect façade that night and made sure she loved every minute of it. Hell yeah.

My gaze slid past Quinn's and landed on Finn's open face and immediately all my smugness evaporated into thin air. I really shouldn't be even halfway proud of making Quinn submissive to me; she wasn't mine to begin with and, no matter how fucking lame it sounded, I'd betrayed the Bro's before Ho's code.

"Yo Puck, what's up Dude? Didn't expect you here so early!" Finn yelled in greeting and I just shrugged, because there's no way in hell I'd tell him the real reason I was on time for school for the first time in…well, probably ever.

I wasn't the least bit ashamed to admit that I was the one who'd put a bun in Rachel Berry's oven, but there was this weird little part of me that still remembered just how much Finn kindda digged my baby's momma and I really didn't want him involved in Rachel's pregnancy. Hell no.

Besides, I tried to tell myself as I merely raised a mocking eyebrow at my best friend and plumped into a seat next to Santana and her best friend, Brittany, he's already got one future momma to deal with. I'm not gonna let him waltz in and be a fucking knight in armor to Rachel too.

And if there was something within me that just really didn't want to see that star struck look in Rachel's eyes the moment Finn entered the picture, I just shut that down and focused on other stuff instead to pass the day. Like the way Santana and Brittany had that glow about them that made it totally obvious that they'd fooled around before class.

Nice…

0o0o0

It was finally time to get to glee club and I had no fucking clue as to how I should act around them all – especially Berry, no Rachel…No Berry – note to self, figure out what you and your normally so awesome mind are gonna call her.

Suddenly, as I was opening the door that I'd opened just that morning, I was overwhelmed with these images of how'd I'd walk into that room, sit next to Berry and she'd squeal something about pre natal vitamins and things would just catapult into disaster from there. Casual my ass.

When I eventually did manage to enter the room, I was basically ignored. Total anticlima or whatever it's called; it wasn't what I'd expected.

Berry didn't even look at me; she was busy staring holes into Mr. Shue's back while he was talking animatedly with Finn. I'm guessing, the curly haired teacher had somehow (yet again) managed to get on Rachel's bad side.

I noticed that the pregnant Jew had placed herself in the last chair on the end and the chair next to her was possessed by Artie, who was busy staring longingly into Tina's hair. I repressed the urge to push the handicaple kid out of the way so I could sit down next to Berry and make damn sure that she wouldn't stress out or anything during the next hour. Instead, I settled down in my usual seat in the back.

A few minutes later, Mike sat down next to me and after mumbling a tired greeting, he leaned his head backwards and pretty much zoned out.

I would usually follow suit and only get off my ass to dance or sing whenever the mood hit me, but today I couldn't act quite as relaxed as I wanted to. I kept sending these glances in Rachel's direction and I didn't know whether to be amazed over the fact that she seemed exactly like herself, or annoyed that she seemed exactly like herself.

"I thought you were over Manhands," Santana's sneering comment caught my attention a little while later and I turned and looked at her. Unbeknownst to me, she'd taken the available seat on my right while I was thinking to myself.

"Shut the fuck up, San," I ordered quietly, looking around to see if anyone had heard her comment. No one was supposed to know that things were different, I'd sort of agreed to that just earlier that morning.

"Uh touchy," Santana mocked, not looking at me as she kept filing her nails with practiced ease. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say your little thing together made you actually like her. I'm not sure I'm okay with that."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't want to remind her that she had no claim over me; hell, the slutty cheerleader had dumped me over my credit. "Not in the mood today," I informed her and promptly turned to Mike.

I heard Santana's hiss behind me, but luckily for me it didn't evolve into something nasty like I knew she was capable off. Ignoring the Latina, I unceremoniously punched Mike's arm and he stumbled gracelessly to the floor. "Whoa Man, not cool." He groaned and sat down again with bleary eyes blinking rapidly. "I've been up way too many hours right now. I'm still halfway drunk so let me sleep it off, all right?"

Grinning, I made it my mission to torment my buddy. Not only did I know for a fact ( that's a memory I'm not too keen on reliving, by the way) that he'd do the same to me, but prodding Mike like this, made me forget about everything.

At least until Quinn suddenly jumped up from her seat and ran from the room with a hand placed in front of her mouth. I heard Kurt and Mercedes mutter excitedly in front of me, but for some reason my eyes went to Rachel. I held my breath, she was looking a bit green, but thankfully she didn't barf.

A few minutes later, Quinn came back and Finn stood up and embraced her briefly before leading her back to her seat. Quinn leaned her head on his broad shoulder and looked way more content, more human, than I'd ever seen her. Finn's expression was so open that I had no doubt in my mind that the kid inside Quinn was gonna be spoiled and happy.

I felt a flare of something akin to jealousy. People knew that they were having a kid (maybe mine, but let's not think about that for a change) and I couldn't resist looking down at Berry.

Oddly enough, she was looking straight at me too and I could swear for a moment her face showed the same yearning that I'm pretty sure I'd just revealed. And for a second, I suddenly wanted nothing more than to walk down to her and place my arm around her shoulder and let her lean on me the same way Quinn did on Finn.

Rachel looked away from me before I could figure out whether or not that freaked me the fuck out. Why do I have the feeling that things are about to be way more complicated than ever?

"All right everybody," Mr. Shue called for attention with an excited smile, and I was actually so relieved to be doing something other than think for a change that I jumped at the chance to participate for once.

TBC…

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CHAPTER FOUR

There were days where I wanted nothing more than to fall right back into my Pre-Glee Club days. Especially when it came to Kurt Hummel; or Beyonce as I liked to call him.

He was annoying, thought he was better than the rest of us because he knew what a fucking T-zone was all about. And he had this insane idea that he was the best singer in glee club, when obviously both Berry and I were boatloads better than him. Also, after the whole, "I'm auditioning for a chick's role, so roll over and die, Rachel," incident, I kindda wanted to reignite the whole dumpster deal that I used to love.

But no; it's like Berry's got super powers or some shit like that, 'cause every time I even think about it, it's like her big brown eyes are on me and quite clearly telling me to fuck off. I'd usually just scoff and throw Beyonce wherever the hell I feel like, but Berry's pregnancy has made her super fierce (even more than she was before if that's possible). I'm serious; the little chick scares the crap out of me. Her and Quinn both sometimes; I think pregnant chicks are pulled aside sometime in the beginning of their pregnancy and taught how best to freak everyone out.

Okay, I feel I'm getting a bit off topic. What I meant to say was; Beyonce is really making my old kick ass bully want to come back to business with no kid gloves on.

I'd been sitting behind Berry in glee like I'd taken to doing and suddenly she'd gotten that same look of intense nausea on her face that Quinn sometimes got and hurried out the door. No one really paid her any attention, I thought, because most of the people in the room didn't really give a damn when it came to Berry.

No one except Kurt Hummel apparently, whose nose for gossip never seemed to fail him. I heard him lean over to his beard, Mercedes and whisper-yell, "What do you think's up with Miss Wannabe Diva? Let's go check on her." His annoyingly slick baby face twisted into a look of very obviously fake concern as he continued, "I mean; I'm suddenly so concerned about her. What if she's sick and doesn't have the strength to perform any solos all of the sudden? I'd be a bad friend if I didn't look after her. Come, Mercedes, let's go, she always uses the bathrooms down the hall."

And off they went, before I even got a chance to like...trip them or anything. After that I somehow just couldn't sit still. I fidgeted and kept my eyes trained on the door, not sure what I'd be expecting to return.

A few minutes went by, but no one came back and I just couldn't sit around like a doof any more so I stood up and exited the room. I heard Mr. Shue call to my back, "be back in five minutes, Puck," and I waved to let him know I'd heard him.

When I came outside, I immediately broke into a run. Shut up, it's not like I would go after Berry and not hurry. I reached the hallway where the bathroom was and found myself catching the end of one of Beyonce's insults, "…need you to throw up all over like Quinn. At least she's got the excuse of being pregnant. You probably just have a very contagious virus or something, so go home so we don't get sick too. We can manage without you."

In that moment, Rachel noticed me and her big eyes filled with tears while I watched on in silence. Before I could do anything other than stand there like a total idiot, she spun around and disappeared down the opposite direction.

I was completely floored, and not in a good way. Never had I seen Berry that close to tears. Not once during the years where I'd been following her around and making her life miserable pretty much around the clock. I'd asked her about it once, and she'd said something lame about not wanting to give me the satisfaction.

And now; this little well manicured wanna be boy had managed to make her break that promise to herself, and I could feel the anger storming through me like some big ass wave that threatened to drown us all.

And this time, Berry won't be around to stop me, I thought with an evil smirk.

I'd like to say that I stormed over, grabbed the punk and threw him into the nearest, but also conveniently messiest dumpster on the premises. But no, what really happened was this.

Beyonce turned to Mercedes with a frown; neither of them had spotted my arrival. "That was weird. I didn't really want to make her cry."

Mercedes placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded, "Yeah, I know. It doesn't really make sense. Rachel is a lot of things, but she isn't one to start crying over such a little thing. Maybe something's going on with her?"

Kurt nodded and his head turned in the direction that Berry had disappeared in. "I think you're right. Let's go and talk to the others, see if they know anything that we've missed."

And then they took each other's hands and started walking away, not even noticing my presence. I was kindda glad at that moment, because I was busy panicking. There were a lot of things to be said about Kurt Hummel and Mercedes…err, I don't know her last name. But one thing stood out the most; they always got the scoop first.

Well, along with that ugly Jacob dude that had a fucking knack for figuring things out that weren't any of his business, but we'll get to that later.

After a few minutes, I shook myself back into the real world and ran after Berry. I reached the parking lot and saw that her girly Prius wasn't in the lot anymore and made my way over to my truck.

I must have broken every speeding law in Lima, making my way to Berry's house as fast as possible. On the way I tried to figure out why I had this huge protective instinct when it came to my baby's mom. Even Quinn had gotten to feel a bit of it when I scammed my way to some money that she didn't even take when it came down to it. Whatever, it's totally her loss.

As I pulled up to Berry's place, the thought occurred to me that I might actually kind of like this broad. I repressed a shudder and jumped out of my truck. I really didn't want to think about that at the time, so I focused all my attention on reaching Berry to try and make her feel better, offer to beat up Beyonce, that kind of thing.

What? I can be sensitive to a woman's need without trying to get into her pants. Although, she's already pregnant, I suppose it couldn't hurt and we were pretty great together…

"Noah? What are you doing here?" Berry's voice interrupted one of my trips down memory lane of the night where I'd conceived the baby with her, and I blinked out of it with a bit of regret (and a quick trip to my jeans pocket to adjust myself before it got downright painful for Puck Jr.).

"Did you, like stand by the door and wait for someone to come by?" I asked, remembering belatedly that I hadn't even knocked on the front door yet.

Berry rolled her eyes, stepping aside to let me in. "No, believe it or not, Noah, I spotted you from the kitchen window and watched you stand there immobile for several minutes with a lecherous grin on your face."

"Awesome," I muttered and strolled over to the nearest couch like I owned the place. I had no idea what lecherous meant, but if she didn't like it; chances were that it was something cool.

"Please, make yourself at home," Berry's sarcasm was tangible and I couldn't stop grinning. I loved pressing this chick's buttons for some reason.

And as long as she was annoyed with me, she didn't have the time to worry about the whole incident at school. Whatever…

"Why are you even here?" her voice changed into this little voice that so didn't fit her and I straightened up a bit to meet her eyes.

"I don't know really," I figured being honest was the best way to go, so I jumped right into it, "but I just didn't like the way you looked before you left school so…Well, I'm here to cheer you up or some emo crap like that, so deal with it."

"Thank you," Berry smiled a little and placed herself gingerly by my side, "I know I might have overreacted a bit back there, but for some odd reason, I was really wounded by Kurt's words, which actually surprises me, because I should know by now – especially after our little show down with Defying Gravity – that he doesn't harbor any real favorable emotions towards me and-"

I swear she didn't even take a breath for that sentence, so I pressed my finger to her lips mid-speech and interrupted ever so eloquently, "Forget him."

"But," Berry's voice was muffled by my finger's presence, but apparently she still had things to say, so I just shook my head and repeated,

"Forget him, Berry."

I raised a brow in challenge, waiting to see if she'd finally follow my order. It took another long second where I just sat there with my finger pressed against her mouth and stared into her eyes.

"Fine," she eventually conceded and I was almost reluctant to remove my finger from her lips. I shook off the foreign sensation and leaned back into the pretty awesome couch.

"Good, now let's talk about something else. Gotta think about something other than the fact that I'm fucking starving."

Berry smiled again and before I knew it, she'd left and returned bearing a huge plate of sandwiches with chicken and I was literally in heaven after that first bite.

When I'd consumed four of those bad boys, belching out my appreciation of course, Berry was looking a bit green again and I kindda regretted the burp. "You okay?" I asked, taking care to swallow before actually speaking to her.

"It'll pass," she answered, gesturing to her stomach region, "the nausea is a fairly new development, but I feel confident that I shall overcome it like so many other females before me have." Berry looked down at the floor for a bit and then up at me, before quickly turning her eyes away again.

What the fuck? I was pretty sure I hadn't spilled anything on my face, so I raised my eyebrow again, "What's wrong now?"

Berry bit her lip and then turned her head upwards again, meeting my stare head on. There was this unfamiliar look in her eyes that I just didn't like for some reason. Rachel Berry looked timid. I tried to soften my stare and asked in a quieter tone of voice, "Rachel, what's wrong?"

I must have done something right, because she suddenly sighed heavily, like she was expelling some deep burden or something and said, "I've got a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon. The doctor's got to check that everything is okay and although it's still too early for the sex of the baby to be seen, I've been told that I can experience some imagery of our child. And I'd like to extend an invitation for you to be there as well."

I suddenly had a hard time breathing properly; somehow she'd done it again. It was like she'd reached over and knocked me on my ass without even touching me. "Our child". The whole thing was fucked up beyond words and Berry didn't even know that I might have sired a half sibling to our kid, but just hearing her acknowledge me as the father; as the Dad, touched something inside of me that I don't think had ever really been touched before.

My stunned silence must have been a bit longer than I'd intended it to be, because Berry blinked rapidly all of the sudden and turned away from me. "It was merely a suggestion, Noah. As I've said before I don't expect you to-"

Immediately, I grabbed her shoulders and turned her back around before she could finish speaking. It gave a mental flinch within me when I spotted fresh tears in her eyes; tears that Kurt Hummel had nothing to do with this time and I cursed softly at myself.

"I'd really like to go with you tomorrow, Rach," I murmured sincerely and waited with baited breath, suddenly scared out of my wits that she'd changed her mind.

My worries fell flat on their face a moment later, when Berry suddenly beamed at me. Her tears magically evaporated like they'd never even been there. "I look forward to it then," she said and I couldn't help but return the grin like some retarded dude, because; damn it all to hell, so did I.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FIVE

The moment where someone found out about Berry's pregnancy wasn't exactly how I'd pictured it. It wasn't one of the Mr. Berry's for one thing and they weren't chasing me with bedazzled shotguns as I'd imagined. In some ways it was even worse because it wasn't any of either Berry's or my parents.

And to make things even better, it just had to be Quinn to get the scoop as the first one. I never thought I'd say this, but I'd actually prefer it to have been Beyonce or his beard.

It happened in a split second, really. It was during glee (surprise surprise) and I was sitting next to Berry that day; I just wanted to be near her in case she needed to ralph again or something so sue me.

In the middle of one of Mr. Shue's usual praises of all things Journey, Rachel turned a bit in her seat and looked at me with a small secret smile that did big things to my downstairs partner, if you catch my drift and I watched intensely as she placed her hand gently on her still not showing belly. I happened to glance over her shoulder for like a second and BAM. I locked eyes with Quinn and I just knew that she knew.

Don't ask me how I knew, but …well, you get the idea. The rest of the time in glee, I was tense and ready to flee. There was a tiny part of me that wanted Quinn to step up and announce it to everyone so that they'd all know that I wasn't the fucking Loser she'd pegged me to be. I was still around, wasn't I? Okay, honestly that wasn't really what I wanted the most. I wanted them all to know that Berry had chosen me; that the need for secrecy wasn't there anymore.

Realistically I knew she wasn't ashamed of me, of our kid, but I can't deny that it hurt like a motherfucker to not be able to claim anything publically. Momentarily, I wondered why I'd never felt that urge as strongly with Quinn and my maybe kid, but I quickly put it out of my mind and focused on the matter at hand.

Should I tell Rachel that she and I weren't the only ones knowing about the baby anymore? Would she freak out and have some major chick fight with Quinn to keep the secret. That would be a hot sight, no doubt about it, but I doubted that it'd be very healthy for the babies involved. Although, I think Berry told me one time that it was important to exercise and-

"Noah," Berry's voice reached my troubled thoughts and I looked down at her with a raised brow.

"What?"

She didn't respond verbally, simply pointed with her chin in the direction of Mr. Shue and I realized that he'd been saying my name a few times already. "What?" I asked, trying to give off the impression of nonchalance. Personal problems or not, I still had an image to maintain.

"Have you been paying attention at all, Puck?" Mr. Shue smiled that, 'I'm such a great and understanding teacher, but you have to do everything I say because I'm an adult'-smile of his and I figured it'd be the easiest to just admit the truth. Plus, being all cool was badass and I could never be too badass.

"Nope," I started, but then Berry's surprisingly pointy elbow caught my ribs and I added, "but I will from now on?" I ignored the pitiful way my voice had changed the sentence in to a question directed at Berry, and I especially overlooked the small hint of relief that flew through me when she nodded mutely with approval.

"Well," Mr. Shue didn't seem to notice our little interplay, but I wasn't surprised. We're talking about a dude that walked by me tossing Beyonce in the dumpsters practically cheering me on for over a year. "Please direct your attention behind me and read out the word I've written there."

I did as ordered and managed to not snort condescendingly when I said, "Ballad."

"Yep," Mr. Shue said, beaming with delight and pointed at a black top hat on the piano next to him, "we're doing that this week. Ballads are songs about all kinds of emotion, not just love. Come on up and pick a name out of the hat and see who you're singing to this week. Oh, Matt's sick by the way, so I guess I'll have to join in."

A few minutes later, I was reeling. Not only had I picked Mercedes' name of all things, but Berry was in the middle of singing a fucking love song to our middle-aged teacher. I mean, come on; the guy was essentially ancient!

Just as she was belting out a note that would've made Celine Dion envious as fuck, I felt someone sit down next to me. Quinn. One look and I forced out the way Berry's basically orgasmic joy at singing touched my body and focused on Quinn.

"Tell me everything," she demanded in a whisper without looking at me. I rolled my eyes and denied knowing what the hell she was talking about, while my insides were sort of twisting together uncomfortably at the intense look Berry was sending Mr. Shue. What was that all about?

"Oh, don't give me that," Quinn hissed, "I'm obviously not the only one carrying something that requires nine months of baking time-"

"Shut the fuck up," I ordered with heat and finally looked at her. "This ain't got nothing to do with you and you better keep your mouth shut or else."

Quinn raised a brow mockingly and leaned back to look over at me unnoticed as all the others attention was on the duet taking place on the floor in front of us. "Or what?"

I quickly debated internally, but really, it was no contest at all. My friendship with Finn or Berry's peace of mind… "Or else I'll tell Finn everything and no one will give a damn about your news, too busy ruining your perfect life to care about the school's outcast."

Quinn paled so fast that I almost regretted using that card of mine, but there was a part of me that was practically dressed in body armor, wearing guns that were fully loaded and ready to launch to protect Berry and her wishes. No one, in particularly the Christian princess next to me, was going to ruin things for Berry; she had enough shit to deal with without the evil wannabe as bitchy but not quite as Santana sitting next to me.

"You wouldn't," Quinn eventually gasped out and I just retaliated by raising a brow of my own. Oh, wouldn't I?

She seemed to get the message and quickly fled back to Finn's waiting arms. He looked at me with bemusement when Quinn buried her head in his shoulder and I just shrugged, and mouthed, "Women," which seemed to placate him for the time being. Thank fuck for his naivety.

When class ended, I heard Artie and Tina muttering about whether Berry had a crush on Mr. Shue; apparently, while I'd been busy trying to do damage control on Quinn, Berry had sung her heart out to the teacher with fucking stars in her eyes.

I was not digging that and I quickly walked over to Berry, who was busy repacking her pink trolley with the notes she'd taken during glee. She looked almost glowing and I stopped before I realized it.

She must have seen my movement out of the corner of her eye, because she turned to me with a sunny smile that knocked the air clean out of me. "Wasn't this just an amazing idea," she said and catapulted into a fifteen minute lecture of all the wonders of singing. And what was more important to me, singing with Mr. Shue.

"You…err," I interrupted after another remark about how amazingly smooth our teacher's voice was, now that he was finally branching out from all the horrid rapping that he was so prone to do, "…"

I couldn't quite get the words out, but the way Berry's chocolate colored orbs just pierced through me, waiting for me to finish my sentence, gave me the courage I needed. Fuck it, I thought, I'm the Puckerone, I'm not scared to talk about anything.

"Are you crushing on Mr. Shuester?" I got it out a bit harsher than I thought, it was more like a rushed growl to be honest, but judging by the way Berry froze, she seemed to understand perfectly.

She stared at me for a long minute without moving and I swallowed hesitantly, suddenly remembering that I was dealing with a hormonal Rachel Berry and that I probably wouldn't survive if she decided to snap completely. Then she broke the tension in the most surprising way possible and the breath I'd been holding blew out of me like the air out of an exploding balloon.

Berry laughed. She fucking laughed; she guffawed so loudly that it was more like rumbling snorting that was going on. "Oh Noah," she said when she finished wiping tears out of her eyes. "I think I needed that. I haven't laughed that hard since before I discovered our situation."

"Well, are you?" I suddenly really wanted an answer. She must have seen that in me, because she turned serious and placed her soft hands over mine that were placed on the piano, clenched together in a mixture of nerves and anger.

"I'll admit that Mr. Shuester has a certain charm and his eyes are far more captivating than I'd previously anticipated, and," she smiled kindly at me, "I suppose if I hadn't been in the middle of what is going to be my life's biggest change, I might have developed some affection for him. But no, Noah, I am not, as you so eloquently say, "crushing on Mr. Shue," that I can assure you."

Berry was looking so unexpectedly beautiful, the happiness from her laugh still echoing in her face and I blurted out, "Quinn knows," like a fucking idiot for some reason.

"I see," Berry said quietly, her face emotionless. She didn't pale like Quinn had earlier, and she didn't scream obscenities at me as I'd thought she would. No she just stood there for what seemed forever before taking a deep breath. "Well, I guess we couldn't hide it forever."

What? I couldn't believe it. Where were all the rage and fear of exposure that I'd thought she'd spew out the second the truth was about to come out.

She shrugged, seeing the questions in my eyes, I think, and then continued to pack her things. "I always knew it wouldn't last forever. I don't' know why you're so shocked, Noah. We've talked about this, remember? I'm not going to hide anything, and I will most assuredly not hide your involvement no matter what happens next." Then Berry sighed heavily and I knew she was more affected than she was letting on. "I guess that I'd just hoped for a little more time to myself, but I will not begrudge you or anyone else that. On a related matter, I suppose all of this means that we'll have to let our parents know now. Shall I accompany you home tonight and assist you in telling your mother? My presence might help speed things along a bit."

Whoa, I was once again left eons behind this chick. She thought that Quinn's knowing about the kid to be would force us to take action sooner and she was already planning on helping me with my crazy mom.

I think that was the first time that I had an inkling about my feelings for Berry. I pushed that emotion crap behind me, 'cause I was not a touchy feely kind of guy unless it involved boobs, thank you very much, and tried to settle some of Berry's worries the best way I knew how.

"Be-Rachel," phew, I remembered to use her first name out loud for once, "Quinn's not gonna spill anything. Trust me on that. So we can wait a little while longer with telling the parental units. Relax and leave things to me."

"I do," Berry's voice was so uncharacteristically quiet that I had to strain to hear her – and damn it, but that was a first for me.

"Do what?" I asked when I'd deciphered her words a few seconds later.

The small twitch of her full lips did something completely non erotic to me; something both far worse and way better that I couldn't quite put a finger on. Then she spoke and I damn near teared up like a fucking pussy.

"I trust you. I've trusted you ever since you went out of your way to make me smile after our first time together."

I couldn't speak, hell; I could barely breathe as I just stood there like a complete moron staring at her. She kept smiling that little enigmatic smile until her eyes suddenly widened and a hand flew to her mouth. I recognized the signs and quickly jumped out of her way as she damn near flew out the door in search of the nearest toilet.

Even as I picked up her abandoned notes and packed them in her ridiculous pink horror and walked after her, even as I glared threateningly at a fucking freshman I remember giving a swirly the day before Berry had revealed her pregnancy to me chuckled at the sight of me with a pink trolley in my hands, even as I caught the end of Berry's disgusting retching and handed her a wet paper towel to clean herself up, I couldn't stop grinning like an idiot.

Because she fucking trusted me and I'd be damned if I'd let anything or anyone ruin that.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER SIX

"So Puckerman, it's been a while since we've hung out."

I stopped in my tracks on the way to my classroom. Of all the people to talk to me in this whole damned school, nay town; it had to be Santana Lopez.

I turned around and looked down at the smaller Latina, who looked exceptionally fine that morning. Damn, damn, damn, I haven't had a spontaneous erection since…well, since the last time I kissed Berry, but that's not important; the thing is, it usually doesn't happen to me and then it had to happen where Santana was involved. Fuck.

I knew better than to try and hide it; her practiced eyes had already spotted my situation and she raised an approving eyebrow. Of course she did, she'd been on the receiving end of the Puckerone treatment more than once, so she knew I could deliver. "Someone's been missing me too, I see. There's an empty classroom fourth period with our name on it."

"Can't." I forced out, the word practically clawing at my throat to remain unsaid. My eyes, however, couldn't be controlled and they lingered on the massive amount of bare skin Santana's Cheerio's uniform showed. I think I might even have drooled a little.

Santana must have thought I was playing with her, because she simply walked closer to me and placed her well manicured hand on my chest with a saucy smile. "Okay, I think I see your bluff and raise with this little suggestion. Let's go find some privacy right now."

I was moving alongside my ex girlfriend before I even made a conscious thought to do so. A few minutes later, Santana was sitting topless on my lap, grinding in all the right places, while I worked her neck just like I knew she liked it.

Suddenly, just as Santana moved her hands down to my pants and began unzipping them with expertise, I had a flash of Berry's big brown eyes that glinted with happiness that day where we'd been at the doctor together; how her eyes had locked with mine briefly when the doctor pointed out that little spot on the screen that would become our kid someday soon. The ghost of her once spoken words slammed through me like a freight train, "I trust you, Noah."

"Okay, what the hell just happened?" Santana frowned down at me and I didn't need to look to see that my downstairs partner had gone soft and uncooperative. "Are you like sick or something, because this has never happened to us?"

I swallowed and quickly stood up, uncaring that San toppled backwards, boobs still out and all. "I gotta go," I muttered and more or less ran out the room like I had a pack of rapid attack dogs on my ass.

Of course life hates my guts because I literally fell over one of the tiny freshmen as she was tying her shoelaces and had to do some kindda acrobatic shit to stay upright. Matt and Mike, who'd been standing around Mike's locker broke out into applauds and Matt even pulled out a sheet of paper, wrote something on it and held it up in the air. It said, "6, 5 – you can do better."

I rolled my eyes, but grinned a bit as I straightened up. I could smell Santana's perfume on me and I looked back at the door when the memory of my first embarrassing sexual encounter reentered my mind. Santana was pulling her loosened hair back into her tight ponytail and when she exited the room a moment later, it was pretty obvious that she and I'd just been fooling around.

Fortunately for my reputation as a stud, Santana didn't out my problem to everyone; maybe she thought it was something she did and wouldn't risk my cutting reply if she did actually say something. Thank fuck for teenage insecurities.

Out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly caught a familiar sight of brown and cursed inwardly. Of course she just happened to be walking by the second that everyone in the hallway realized that I'd (supposedly) sexed Santana up once again. There were catcalls and sly grins, but for once I wasn't interested in upping my rep; my eyes were glued on Berry's now disappearing form.

I went after her, not liking that twist in my gut that was making itself known. I'd only caught Berry's eyes for like a nanosecond, but there'd been this glimpse of hurt there that was doing weird things to me and I just didn't like that she thought I'd been screwing Santana for some reason. I conveniently forgot that I probably would've been doing just that if Puck Jr. had been cooperative.

To my frustration it was like Rachel Berry had vanished. I looked for her in all her usual haunts. The empty choir room, the auditorium, the principal's office. I had a brief, yet very awkward conversation with Friggins' secretary, who I'd banged over the last summer holiday when I'd been over to clean her pool. It seemed that she was in the mood for seconds…Why is it that everyone wants you once you're no longer available?

Whoa, wait up. What am I saying? I'm the Puckerone; I'm always available for time with the ladies. Except…Well, maybe I didn't want to be. And that frightening thought echoed through my very being while I continued looking for Berry without success. Eventually, I gave up and settled for the fact that we'd see each other at Glee. There's no way she'd ditch that in order to avoid me, I was sure of it.

When I walked into the choir room that afternoon, I only ten minutes late because one teacher wanted to know why I had turned in a decent essay for once( totally Berry's fault by the way). I was momentarily pleased when I saw that I'd gotten it right, that she would be in attendance, but that quickly disappeared when I noticed that all the chairs around her were vacant and people were shooting her cautious looks.

She was practically oozing out this big blackness around her, basically telling everyone to leave her the hell alone. I took a deep breath and made my way over to one of the free spots next to her, ignoring Mr. Shue and Finn's frantic headshakes to warn me off.

"What's up, Berry?" I greeted her with my best charmer smile plastered on my lips. I mentally told myself that I wasn't in the dog house; that I hadn't actually done anything wrong and that she was just being crazy, that her pregnant hormones were acting up on her. '

Berry didn't look at me, too occupied with staring down at the floor like it had offended her deeply. "I don't have time to chat."

Okay, the charming route wouldn't work if she wouldn't look at me, so I tried something else. I leaned closer, gently nudging her in the shoulder, "How's the nausea going?" She always seemed to like when I asked her about anything baby related.

The death glare she sent me, could have killed a rock, I'm just sayin'. "I said I do not have any time to chat."

She gathered her things and got up from her seat and walked over to Quinn Fucking Fabray in the corner farthest away from me. The pregnant blonde sent me a half glare, half panicked look at the approaching doom, but I just shrugged, suddenly feeling a bit annoyed with everything.

I mean, what was Berry's problem? It's not like we were dating or anything. We just so happened be two people that were having a baby together, that's all. So the more I thought about it, the more irritated I felt. Add my little problem with Santana and I was not having one of my best days.

The day didn't get better from there, because a few minutes later, Mr. Shue suddenly made up some lame ass reason for Finn and Quinn to be elsewhere and addressed the rest of us with a big smile that would have been a serious competition to Berry's if she wasn't so pissed right at that moment. "So guys," the teacher started, rubbing his hands together with excitement, "although I have no doubt that you are all working hard with your weekly assignment, Rachel actually brought up a valid point today."

"Oh great, RuPaul is at it again," I heard Santana mutter and I instinctively snapped my head around to look at my ex with as much venom as I could muster. And given my lifelong practice, I was fucking deadly right about now. I might be sort of irritated with Berry at that point in time, but no one but me would ever call her names again. No one! I pretended that I didn't just think that and glared harder to cement my displeasure.

Santana frowned, but didn't get a chance to say another scathing word before Shuester continued, as always ignoring our bickering with an ease that came with a lot of practice. "Anyway, Rachel pointed out to me that given Finn and Quinn's new living arrangements, we should do something to cheer them up and show that we're still here for them."

I glanced over at the still mute, but also still fuming brunette at my side. I was amazed that she had enough compassion left to try and cheer up her former crush and her former rival. Apparently, Finn had done something stupid (like he was prone to do when he was nervous) and song his ballad to Quinn's strict parents that sort of told them that their baby was having a baby, resulting in Quinn living at Finn's house after being kicked out. I frowned a bit, how could Berry manage being pissed at me for some reason, and still be sweet to her old tormenter? I didn't get a chance to mull that over for long before Mr. Shue started talking animatedly again.

Mr. Shue tried to get us to vote on a song, but after Berry mentioned, "lean on me," with such gloom in her voice and face, no one wanted to go against her, not even Beyonce to everyone's mild surprise, and we quickly ran through the number before Finn and Quinn came tumbling back with an obviously acting Ms. Pillsbury, who kept winking at Mr. Shue when she thought no one was looking. Those two really needed to figure things out, I have enough drama in my own life, I don't need to witness theirs.

We performed the stupid song and I couldn't quite stop glancing at Berry. She was looking at Quinn with such honest empathy that it was hard to imagine that she had been Miss Ice cold minutes before. At some point my eyes met Quinn's and she smiled so softly at me that I almost remembered why I'd used to want her before she hooked up with Finn. Maybe I should try and be nicer to her again. After all, I was super nice to Berry normally and Quinn might have my spawn inside of her too. It wouldn't be fair to treat them differently.

Except, Berry was different, there was no denying it and I broke eye contact with the girl I'd betrayed my best friend with.

The moment the song was over and we'd all participated in a pansy assed group hug to like confirm our feelings or whatever, Berry was gone and I hurried after her, suddenly eager to get things out in the open. When she just practically jumped into her girly car and drove past me like I was not even there, my earlier annoyance returned with vengeance and I cursed loudly, just hoping that some dweeb would give me attitude right about now.

Before I even knew it I'd whipped my phone out and had sent Berry a text. You srsly need 2 chill. Let's talk 2morrow when you're not a bitch.

I walked over to my truck and jumped inside, waving distractedly to Finn (and Quinn), who was being picked up by Mrs. Hudson, and simultaneously patted the steering wheel thanking the man upstairs that I at least didn't have to be driven around like a fucking grade schooler – or worse, take the bus home.

Then my phone beeped and I gotta admit there was a part of me that mentally gulped before my bad ass self reminded it that I'm Puck and I ain't scared of no one! The minute my brain took in what Berry had sent back, I slammed my hand into the steering wheel I'd just patted so lovingly and cursed again.

You need to learn proper grammar. Don't come near me tomorrow or I will not be accountable for what will happen.

Damn, overreact much?

Why I ever thought this chick was better at everything than Quinn Fabray, I have no idea. I especially had no idea why I had felt to goddamn guilty about fooling around with Santana on top of that. "Well," I muttered when I spotted Santana herself exit the school without Brittany for once, "screw that. I'm not tied down yet!"

An hour later, I parked at the curve in front of Santana's house. She smiled at me, still trying to fix the hair I'd mussed up good in the back of my truck. Evidently, she'd completely forgiven my original reaction that morning, because she finally left her unruly hair alone and crawled over me, hitting all the right places if you know what I mean, before exiting the truck and disappearing into her house with a sated grin on her face.

I smirked and started making my way back home. Suddenly, a wave of something that felt suspiciously like nausea washed over me and I pulled over, dry heaving like I'd been puking for hours.

I placed my head on the steering wheel and sighed, closing my eyes. Only to open them again a second later when Berry's accusing eyes flashed through my inner eye. "Fuck," I whispered. Not once had I felt this bad after getting off (twice even). Sighing when I felt a bit more in control of myself, I sat up straight and drove home in silence.

When I finally got home, I had forced that whiny part of myself into submission and regained my earlier annoyance over Berry. I shouldn't feel guilty over fucking Santana; I'd done that on and off ever since we were thirteen for fucks sake! She shouldn't act like she owned me! The only thing we had in common was that kid in her belly. And the fact that we're both good looking Jews…And that we both dig singing and dancing…And that we're both more or less obsessed with getting the hell out of Lima…And that we both aren't that easy to understand and get to know and-

"Okay," I hissed at my subconscious and threw myself on my unmade bed with a groan. "So we have a lot in common…"

"Who are you talking to?" I looked up and met my little sister's eyes in the doorway. She didn't step inside because lately she'd become a bit more girly and my manly room wasn't exactly her taste. Or it could be because I'm pretty sure there were a couple of plates under my bed that could basically walk on their own by now…

"Nothing, beat it," I demanded, rolling over on my side and instantly regretted it when I saw the window where Berry had revealed herself in my dream, that stupid dream that had gotten me to notice her properly in the first place and led to the whole baby drama in the first place.

"Moooaam, Noah's being a jerk to me!" My sister screamed in her shrilly voice and I growled angrily when my mom's voice immediately flew back up the stairs.

"Noah, stop being a jerk and play with your sister!"

Okay, it was now official; if I wasn't banging them, I just wasn't any good with women. This day had been a major suck fest!

"Noah!"

"Fine!" I roared back at my reprimanding mom and got out of bed and walked after my now smugly smiling sister into her hideous pink room to play some guitar for her as I always did. I mean, come on; it was no coincidence that I knew all that girly Aguilera stuff that night I'd conceived my future kid with Berry.

"Play some Christina Ag-"

"Don't even think about it," I objected and started playing some Justin Bieber instead.

Fuck this day, I hope the next one's gonna be better…

TBC...

Chapter Text

CHAPTER SEVEN

So; Berry was acting like I was made of thin air now and to my surprise, I hated it way more than I'd ever expected.

Whenever Santana or any of my other "girlfriends" and/or hot cougars had been pissed at me and wanted to make a point by ignoring me, I'd just laughed and jumped to the next available chick. No sweat – except now, I was suddenly desperate to get back into this girl's good graces. It was confusing as hell.

It messed with my head. And on top of all that I actually showed up in most classes, just to make sure that Berry was okay, and judging from the confused looks some of the other gleeks had given me lately, I was also staring at her a bit more than I'd realized.

But I couldn't quite act like I used to, I mean, what if in her anger she walked a bit too fast down the hallway, bumped into one of the cool kids, who'd slushie her and cause her to fall down and hurt not only herself, but the baby resting inside of her?

Okay, it's official, I was losing my mind.

It didn't exactly help my state of mind when Quinn suddenly reappeared on my radar, radiating sweetness that I knew enough about to know was false advertisement.

Then, one early afternoon, just after glee, the pregnant blond sought me out with a beaming smile on her lips. I probably should've grinned back and gotten the hell out of Dodge before I messed things up even more; hell, knowing what I do now; I should just have turned around and run in the other direction.

But to be honest, Quinn caught me in just the right moment. I was seriously rattled, feelings like guilt and anger and hurt were swimming inside of me and confusing me way too fucking much. In glee, I hadn't been able to get Berry to even look at me; apparently she was more caught up with Mr. Shue's panic attack about those smoking hot criminal, babes that had performed for us and then led him to get us some butt ugly wigs to rehearse in.

So, feeling like a pansy because I was feeling rejected and guilty all rolled into one, I looked down at Quinn's sugary smile and agreed to help her out.

The night itself was actually pretty cool, I mean, once Quinn and I got those ginger kids to bed using every trick in the book. After Mrs. Shuester and her weird sister with the crazy eyes came back and saw what a great job Quinn and I had done, I was actually in a decent mood.

I was even a bit proud for withstanding some of Santana's infamous sexts. Seriously, that chick can be very, very detail oriented. Of course, my dick wanted me to hand in my man card, but that's not really what I chose to focus on. I was already in trouble with one girl and didn't need any more drama in my life.

Quinn smiled at me again for the millionth time that night, as I led her out to my truck to take her back to Finns'. "I gotta admit, Puck," she started softly; "I was pleasantly surprised tonight. You've proven to be a really good support in times of need." Her eyes lingered on my lips for just one second longer than was decent and that's when I knew that she was remembering the night I'd fucked her brains out. "I see why Man- I mean, Rachel is so calm despite it all."

"Yeah, well," I started uncertainly, focusing on not crashing the truck as my memory immediately brought back the look of deliberate avoidance that Berry had had all over her in glee all week. "Whatever."

"Uuh," Quinn looked ecstatic as she continued with what I think she thought was compassionate, "Is there trouble in Paradise? You seemed so sure of everything last time we spoke, I mean, you even threatened me and everything."

Judging from the look in her eyes, I knew she was waiting for an apology, but screw that. I still meant every word I'd said that day and I most definitely wouldn't be saying sorry to the girl that had brought about some of my biggest insecurities. Shut up, even the Puckasaurous can have issues. Lima Loser my ass…

"So, err," Quinn spoke again after a few minutes of tense silence, "I guess I didn't need to have gone to the lengths I did to get you alone tonight."

Wait, what? I turned and looked at her with a raised brow before turning my attention back to the road. I vaguely noticed that the my grip on the steering wheel were turning my fingers white, evidently my sixth sense already knew that I wasn't gonna like whatever it was the blond cheerleader was about to say.

"Yeah, I kindda manipulated Kurt into taking her off my hands and Finn's been over at her house tonight practicing with all the "Hairography" or something." Quinn's tone was amused as she talked, keeping her eyes averted, looking out the window. "I know you're probably wondering why I'm risking putting my boyfriend into the hands of a girl that's never been able to hide her feelings for him from anyone but him, but I know Finn. He's nothing if not loyal – unlike someone else."

The last part was uttered with this smug tone that made me want to pull over and literally kick her out of the car, but I kept the urge inside and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I would never harm a girl, I wasn't my old man. Okay, I might throw iced beverages at them or some shit like that, but I never laid a hand on any woman unless it was with intentions of sexual gratification.

"Quinn," I said, having regained my composure, "don't pull shit like this again. I know what you're doing, you know. I'm not as dumb as your boy toy is. I know me and Be-Rachel aren't as united as you and Finn, but I do know that no matter what the future brings, I'll always have her back. Now get out, we're here."

Huffing haughtily, seemingly completely over her earlier lust to seduce me or whatever it was she had planned, Quinn left and slammed the door.

That left me sitting outside of Finns' house with this crazy, insane and violent need to go inside and throw him up against the nearest wall, hit him a few times until he told me every single detail of his evening with my kid's mom.

Fortunately for my criminal record, my more mature side won out and I reluctantly turned the truck around and drove home. I turned on some of my more kickass music and put on a wife beater and started exercising to clear my head. After an hour, I was sweating and panting like a fat kid running up stairs and I finally just fell down on my (thank fuck) clean floor with a groan of exhaustion.

As I lay trembling on the floor, I realized that yet again my routines hadn't managed to beat out that little brunette from my mind. It was like she had wedged her way in and nailed herself to my brain's walls or something like that.

I wanted to call her and interrogate her about her night with Finn, demand that she never spoke to her crush ever again, because she belonged with me! Well, not her as much as the baby growing inside of her. I-argh, who was I kidding? The baby was actually the furthest thing from my mind at that point in time. It was the thought of her big, soft lips planting themselves on Finn's that made me want to punch a hole in the wall.

"Damn it," I muttered and sat up, placing my sweaty head in my hands. There was no denying it anymore; I was totally into Crazy Berry.

0o0

The next morning, I practically ran into the school, eager to find Berry and let her know that I sort of, kind of, maybe, almost wanted to start dating her again and this time for real. No dreams from the man upstairs to guide me, just me and my admittedly confusing feelings.

Of course it was like she knew I was looking for her, because I just couldn't seem to find her. Finally, just before the bell rang, signaling that another class that I was almost flunking was about to start, I found her. She was standing beside Beyonce and she looked fucking furious for some reason, making me frown a bit as I approached cautiously.

I wasn't exactly keen on letting one of the biggest gossipers in school, no; the entire town really witness the conversation I had planned. After another, brief and for me unusually uncertain second, I stepped forward, rudely interrupting their hissed discussion.

"Berry, we need to talk."

She looked at me with surprise, annoyance and something else swirling in her eyes. "I'm in the middle of something. I'll find you later if it's that important."

"No," I responded, leaning with what I hoped looked like nonchalance, up against the lockers, blocking Beyonce's view of her. "You'll just avoid me again and force me to track you down again like some loser. We talk, now."

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Fine, but you need to be brief because I still need to talk to Kurt."

"You spent your evening with Finn," I blurted out, so not starting the conversation like I'd planned, "and judging from the way I heard some of the guys talk earlier, you had Beyonce here help you look like a total skank to get him to go home with you."

"Yeah, well," Berry's eyes fluttered around the now empty hallway, save from us and Beyonce. "You slept with Santana. And I do realize that we have no say over one another, since our actual relationship ended some time ago, so stop acting like my being around Finn is any of your business. And how I look should be of no concern to you either."

"Maybe," I began, but then Berry's crazy hormones kicked in and she leaned to the side and sent a withering glare at the eagerly listening girlish boy behind me.

"And I wouldn't have been dressed as a less than honorable woman if it hadn't been for Kurt. I wanted to have at least one friend in this school, so I agreed to put on something completely horrendous and parade around like an imbecile and then it turned out that not only did I gain Finn's unwanted, yes unwanted, Noah, attention but Kurt wanted me to look stupid so he could humiliate me."

"What?" I turned a bit and grabbed a hold of Beyonce's expensive looking sweater, making sure he couldn't run away.

"Oh stop it," Berry interfered, slapping my hand like I was her fucking dog or something, forcing me to let go. "I'm perfectly able to fight my own battles."

Hummel finally spoke, once he'd stepped away from my reach; his lips curled in plain disgust as they looked at Berry. "I have no idea what makes you so special in everyone's eyes, Rachel. You can sing, yes, but you're so irritating and self-cente-"

"Don't finish that sentence, Man," I damn near growled out the warning, flexing my guns to make my meaning clear as fucking day.

"Or what?" Hummel laughed resentfully, "you're gonna throw me in a dumpster, because suddenly you want to act like you care about her feelings? Oh please, don't make me laugh. You've treated her worse than anybody else!"

"No, I was planning on beating you to a pulp," I threatened angrily; I didn't like to be reminded how much of an ass I'd been to Rachel, especially now that I'd finally understood that I was sort of into her. "How's that for making you laugh?"

"Stop it, both of you!" Rachel yelled at us, walking between us and holding her hands up to keep us from advancing at each other. Not that I thought that Beyonce had any intention of going after me because, let's face it, the dude is a total wimp compared to me.

"Oh butt out of this, Rachel," Kurt groaned angrily and pushed her into me; something I'd never expected of him.

If I hadn't just caught my pregnant and hopefully soon to be girlfriend in my arms before she slammed into the lockers, thus risking our child's life I might have been reasonable enough to see that Kurt was just as big a drama queen as Rachel. He had probably acted without thought, seeing as he had watched her tumble with widened and shocked eyes, but I had just caught her in my arms and therefore understanding his actions was at the bottom of my list.

"You son of a bitch," I snarled, lightly enveloping Rachel's tiny body with my arms, "pushing a girl is bad enough, but doing it to a pregnant chick is just not something that's gonna end well for you!"

Immediately, I wanted to beat myself with a big club; I'd revealed Rachel's secret to Kurt Fucking Hummel of all people. I knew that he couldn't have misunderstood my words, and after casting one quick look at his stunned face, I didn't even try to lie my way out of it. Instead, I settled on concentrating on the most important thing.

I gently lifted Rachel's chin and forced her to meet my eyes as I asked softly if she was okay. She nodded, and the shock and fear for what could have happened slowly seeped out of her. "I'm fine, I was just surprised Noah, you can let go of me now."

For the first time since our argument about everything, Rachel's eyes were looking at me without the anger and hurt; now they only showed kindness and I knew I'd never get a better chance than this, so I ignored the still frozen Hummel beside us and said confidently, "Yeah, well, I just ain't ready to let my girlfriend out of my arms yet. Deal with it."

"O-okay," her reply was a mere whisper, and a bit too hesitant to make me completely calm, but it still felt damn good to hear.

I don't even know how long I stood there with her in my arms like a fucking wimp, but eventually I knew I had to address Kurt, who was still standing with his mouth agape, staring at us like we were the second coming and the moon landing all rolled into one.

Rachel surprised me once again by simply turning in my arms and looking blankly at Kurt. "If you won't say anything about this, I won't say anything about your feelings for Finn."

"What? You're into Finn? What is it with that guy?" I muttered, but aside from Rachel's elbow in my gut, my words remained ignored as the two drama queens of Lima High continued their conversation.

"Yes, I am pregnant and Noah is the father. We will be keeping our child and if you could focus on the fact that I am not after Finn and that, despite my, as you so often say self-centered diva moments, I'm actually a nice person and I'd really like it if we were friends."

I kept my mouth shut as I waited for the gay teen to talk. But before he opened his mouth, Rachel added quickly, "and just so you know, I'm probably one of the few people in this entire town that can understand your struggles with being openly homosexual. In case it has escaped your notice, I do have to two gay dads."

Then the most unexpected thing happened; Beyonce laughed with honest amusement dancing in his eyes and then he sighed, fixing his over sprayed hair into perfection and I just knew that we now had someone else in the know; someone that, no matter how bitchy he could be, was gonna keep our secret and help us out, if for no other reason than he was feeling guilty about having laid a hand on Rachel.

But I didn't actually care about any of that; it wouldn't be long before everyone would know anyway. All I cared about was that my new found girlfriend (how fucking weird is that?) was squealing happily at the mere thought of having an actual friend and I couldn't quite decide if the thought of her loneliness made me want to hit someone, or made me want to kill myself a little bit because there's no denying that Kurt had been right; I'd played a big part in bullying Rachel in the past…

I didn't get a chance to think about that for long, because the next thing I knew, Rachel had wrapped her arm around mine and started walking to class, babbling on and on about all that I'd missed during our parted days. I can't deny that I had missed her ramblings. Unfortunately, we had assigned seats in that class and we didn't share anymore classes until glee, so I didn't get to spend as much time with her as I'd liked. I promised myself that I'd wait for her when her final class ended and walk with her to glee.

When we strolled into glee that afternoon, it became clear that Beyonce had actually kept his promise in more ways than one. No one seemed to know that we were dating again and except for the unfamiliar choir standing around awkwardly with a guy that kept shouting something about fever and pointing at his ears to Mr. Shue, everyone stared at our linked hands with dumbstruck expressions.

"What the hell?" Santana's voice could probably have cut through steel as she glared evilly down at us from her seat. "Are you crazy, Puck?"

"Nope," I replied and then completely ignored her, and placed myself next to Rachel, who smiled to herself as she helped me fix my horrendous wig for our performance.

"Thanks," I whispered to her and her small smile grew into a full-blown grin and I couldn't quite pretend that something fluttered inside of me at the sight of her happiness. Luckily, Mr. Shue called us to attention before I could do something crazy, like giggle like a lunatic and point mockingly at Finn, announcing, "She's mine, she's mine, nah nah nah nah nah," over and over again.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER EIGHT

Now that I was dating Rachel, things were different in a lot of ways. First off, after a bit of pouting from Finn over the fact that I was actually going out with the chick he kept sending longing looks, our friendship blossomed because we connected over having two pregnant chicks to please at all hours of the day.

Oh, wait – I don't think I've mentioned that everyone now knows that Rachel is carrying my spawn, have I?

Well, it all started when, one night, I got a frantic phone call from Rachel. I answered it with a smug smirk on my face, because she just couldn't get enough of me apparently. The smug look quickly transformed into one of horror, when Rachel actually started speaking.

"My dads' know, Noah. They came home unexpectedly and heard me throwing up and I was only wearing underwear at the time because I'd just vacated the shower and Dad spotted my baby bump immediately and well…They know everything, Noah."

My heart beat so fast that for a second, I didn't even know if I was alive or not, hell, I was so messed up that I didn't even try to picture Rachel's sweet body in her underwear at all!

"D-do they know about me?" I asked with a stutter. A fucking stutter, like I was retarded or something. Damn, fear was not a good look on me.

"No," Rachel interrupted my internal scolding quietly and I sat up, frowning.

"Wait, what? I thought you said they knew everything?" I pointed out, reaching out after a sweater without thinking.

"Well, apart from your involvement in it all," Rachel explained in a rush, "I didn't want to get you into any trouble until we'd discussed matters more."

"There's nothing to discuss, Rach," I muttered, fiddling with the button on my jeans as I pulled them on. "I'm the kid's dad and I'm not gonna let you soldier it all alone. Relax, I'm coming over."

I hung up, not giving her a chance to convince me to do otherwise. I was out the door and halfway to the Berry's house, before I realized that I'd actually gotten dressed and formulated a plan to go to her house before she even finished saying that her dads knew.

Huh, I guess, she just brings out the protective instinct in me, I thought and pulled into the curve in front of Rachel's house. On my way to the front door, I noticed that despite the late hour, all the lights in their living room was still on and I could hear muffled talking coming from the opened window. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door. Who knew if they'd kill me on sight? I was awesome, but not even I could go on living with a bullet in the head or whatever these guys had planned out for me for defiling their only child…

It took a few seconds that felt like an eternity, but then Black Mr. Berry slowly opened the door. His eyes ran over me, assessing me in one glance and then he sighed deeply and turned his head. "Don't bother interrogating her anymore, Hiram, I know who the father is…"

What followed was pretty much on the top of my list of worst experiences ever, easily knocking the time my mom caught Santana on her knees giving me a blowjob in my room and just. Did. Not. Leave…

Rachel sat next to her Daddy, and tried comforting him while I had a staring competition with Black Mr. Berry.

Eventually, Black Mr. Berry, whose real name was actually Abraham, managed to get Hiram to stop weeping about, and I quote, "lost dreams and innocence broken." Rachel excused herself in the middle of things with a green tint to her skin and Hiram ran after her, muttering something about, "why did it always happen to the Jews," leaving me alone with Abraham Berry.

The look he sent me could have melted the flesh right off my bones and I swallowed hard, desperate for some kind of distraction. Finally, he leaned back a bit and blinked once. "I've never had a problem with you, Noah," he stated and I was immediately taken back to the time where he'd witnessed my meltdown after my old man up and left. "In fact, I've always encouraged the people in temple that spoke poorly of you, to see otherwise."

The neutral tone in his voice was creeping me out and I didn't know what to say. He just continued quietly, "I know that you're a good kid, with many abilities to succeed in life at your disposal. I've never said anything to your mother about the blatant bullying you've put my only child through over the years."

Oh crap, I think my heart was seizing and I could feel my skin turn clammy and cold at the realization that the man in front of me, gay or not, could probably kick my ass and had more reasons to than most of the people I knew. He'd known about my behavior towards Rachel all along…Whoa.

Abraham kept talking, and all my fear of him turned into anger when he spoke again, "You are going to help Rachel with this baby, no matter what. You will not run away from your responsibility or I will personally make you regret ever coming out of your mother in the first place. Are we clear?"

"Look Sir," I was pissed, but not suicidal, as I defended myself, "I have no intention of letting Rachel do anything on her own. It took two to make that baby and I'll support her in any way that I can. It's my kid too."

We stared at each other for a never ending second, before Abraham then shocked the hell out of me by smiling softly and saying, "Yeah, I'm not surprised to hear that. Let me worry about Hiram, you just keep taking care of my little girl."

Somehow that freaked me out more than the threat of violence and death and vengeance and shit. This guy trusted me to do well, to be better than I was. Now I knew where Rachel got it from, I guess.

0o0o0

The next day in school, people were looking at me funny, some grinned where they usually cowered and some actually muttered mockingly as I passed. Something I had not endured since I was dating Rachel the first time around. My senses immediately heightened, fully expecting a slushie to the face any second.

I turned a corner and was met with not only Santana's angry and slightly disbelieving face, but Finn's as well and that's when I knew that they all knew. How the hell did they find out so quickly? My mind instantly went to Kurt and I started searching the crowd for him and his black and co-fashion obsessed beard.

It was like he knew I was looking for him and what my first instinct would be, because suddenly there he was. Right in front of me with his hands raised. "I didn't do anything," he got out in a rush, diving one of those damned manicured hands into his bag and withdrew his sparkled cell phone and held it up so I could see what seemed to be a video clip from Jacob's infamous blog.

Again, I was assaulted with knowledge, knowing just how people had found out about Rachel's pregnancy and my involvement. "How the hell did he find out?" I muttered, grapping Kurt's phone to watch the stupid clip of the curly haired Jew with the unhealthy obsession of Rachel.

"I've managed to find out that he was hiding in the tree by my bedroom window," Rachel's voice surprised me and I actually jumped like a scared little girl, nearly dropping the phone in my hand. "I think he overheard Dad and Daddy's reaction when they first saw me yesterday and then when you arrived on the scene not long after that, it would be an easy guess as to who was responsible for the paternity."

The sound of her voice was odd, I noticed with a frown, handing the cell phone back to an equally confused Kurt, whose eyes were firmly on Rachel's blank face. It took a minute, but then it hit me; she sounded completely calm and collected, like none of this getting out fazed her at all.

I looked around and spotted several students and even a few teacher looking at us with something that looked like morbid curiosity in their eyes. Sighing with growing irritation, I took a firm, but gentle hold of Rachel's arm and led her into one of the rarely used classrooms nearby.

"Noah," she protested, her free hand cradled protectively over her belly. "I don't see any reason to manhandle me like this, I'm perfectly cable of following directions if you'd bother giving me some."

I didn't know whether to roll my eyes or grin at her being so…well, her. Finally, I just turned around and looked at her. "Okay, Berry. Tell me what's really going on behind those big brown eyes of yours." I demanded.

Rachel's brow furrowed as she crossed her arms. She looked genuinely bemused. "I'm not sure what I understand what it is that you want to know, Noah. I'm merely focused on getting through what will no doubt be a haring day full of judgmental stares and comments. Nothing else is, as you say, going on."

"Why aren't you freaking the fuck out right now? I mean, you're the chick that basically had a meltdown when Finn suggested that we just skip the matching outfits at regionals because it worked wonders for those choir kids in Sister Act 2."

Rachel huffed and uncrossed her arms and I was fully expecting her to yell at me, break down into a blubbering, insecure mess or have a Diva fit. Once again, she surprised me with her maturity.

"Noah Puckerman, I do not understand why you keep trying to make me feel a certain way. I've stated numerous times that I'm not ashamed of our unborn child or your involvement in it. It is true that I would've liked to keep it a secret for a little while longer, although I realize that it couldn't have lasted much longer anyway, because unlike Quinn, my Jewish hips are kicking in and I'm already bigger than she is and she's about a month or two further along than me. So," Rachel didn't pause and I spared one brief thought on the fact that her breath control was extremely good before focusing again, "I simply do not understand your question."

"Rachel," I began hesitantly, hating that her words had on some level brought me peace when I knew that she was the one that was now gonna live through an even worse experience of high school because that stupid dweeb, Jacob had outed her. "I know that, okay. I just hadn't expected you to behave so rationally about it all. I mean, it's one thing to say something and another to do it when it counts. I know that better than anyone." Hell that's one of the reasons that Quinn let me fuck her in the first place, but I don't think Rachel will appreciate that little tidbit of knowledge.

Not knowing that I was thinking about that one night where I might have sired my kid's half sibling, Rachel nodded with a small smile and I had this wild urge to just go over and kiss her, and because we were kindda dating, although there hadn't been an actual date yet, I did just that.

Her soft lips were as warm and addictive as I remembered and it was only the sound of the warning bell that put an end to the kiss. I would've kept going, but Rachel was and had always been, super committed to her studies so she ended the kiss and had the audacity to pat my cheek twice before leaving with a much brighter smile on her lips.

And I didn't even care that she'd basically petted me like a dog. In fact I'm pretty sure my smile was even bigger than hers as I followed suit and went to class.

As luck would have it, I shared that particular class with Finn and after a bit of glaring from his side, he and I actually ended up talking. He leaned over at one point and asked me if Rachel was as scary as Quinn when she was in one of her pregnancy moods and I took the time to clue him in on my theory about pregnant chicks and their hidden training in all things crazy.

Anyway, that's how not only Rachel's dads discovered the whole pregnancy deal, but the entire school as well. I hadn't told my mom yet, but Rachel had informed me that we were going to do so at the soonest possible time to prevent similar drama to that which had taken place with her dads.

To say I was looking forward to it was a gross overstatement, but I knew it had to be done.

But that wasn't really on the forefront on my mind; remember when I said that a lot of things had changed now that I was dating Rachel again? Well, fortunately for me, having impregnated her and already seen her naked, made Rachel a lot less shy about herself and we were making out like I'd never experienced before. And considering who's saying this, that's not to be taken lightly.

Somehow I always ended my days with swollen lips and a goofy grin that matched the one Finn usually walked around with, well the one he used to have all the time before Quinn got pregnant anyhow – I guess, she wasn't as levelheaded as Rachel and yeah, I do realize that that whole sentence doesn't seem right, but hell, I don't care.

I hadn't slept with Rachel again despite our heavy make out sessions, but I knew we were definitely heading that way and I won't lie and say I wasn't looking forward to it. If I was completely honest to myself, the night I spent with Rachel, her one moment of sadness aside, had been one of, if not the best experiences of my life and I was eager as fuck to get a repeat performance.

Evidently, my lustful thoughts and wishes weren't quite as in my head as I'd thought, because one day, in Glee, Brittany came up and sat down next to me with this little distracted smile that was a signature look on her, "Hey, Puck, you look on edge lately. I can help you with that." And then she actually proceeded to put her hand on my thigh, dangerously close to Puck Jr.

I was about to push her off me, because although I'd been a douche to most of my previous girlfriends and fidelity hadn't really been anything other than a fancy word, I didn't want to hurt Rachel. A part of me knew that should I ever get the balls to tell her about the whole Quinn deal, that it would fill up my hurt quota for the rest of our relationship however long it might be. But I never got a chance to push Brittany's hand off, because suddenly, Rachel was standing by my side, gripping the cheerleaders hand and firmly removing it.

"I'd appreciate it if you kept your hands to yourself, Brittany." Her tone of voice was saccharine sweet, but the look in her eyes clearly told the admittedly dimwitted cheerio that her advances would not be tolerated. I held in a smug smirk, it was totally kick ass to be fought over like this, I have no idea why chicks always complain when dudes fight over them.

"Hey, don't touch Britt, RuPaul," Santana hissed from her seat next to Brittany. I rolled my eyes and ignored them; taking Rachel's soft hand in mine and kissed her knuckles briefly, while pretending I didn't see the shocked looks from my fellow Gleeks. So what if the Puckerone's reputation suffered a bit, I was still totally badass.

"Come on guys," Mr. Shue, thankfully, entered the choir room a moment later and drew the attention away from Rachel and me. "Let's run over the number we practiced last week one more time. And then you can all tell me if you're planning on anything special for the upcoming Thunderclap."

Oh damn it; I nearly groaned the words out loud. As if having to tell my mom that I had impregnated the golden child of Lima at sixteen wasn't enough, now I had to endure being hassled over some fucking picture because I was a member of the glee club. Could my life get any worse?

Rachel turned to me with a beaming smile, just as the thought ran through my head. "That's perfect Noah, we simply have to talk about what we're gonna wear. I'm so excited!"

Okay, apparently it could…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER NINE

"I swear if this pimple doesn't go away…"

"I just bought this awesome top, really shows off my chest and…"

"…hope I don't accidentally blink this year."

All around me people were talking about that stupid ass Thunderclap like it was the biggest news since sliced bread. And, okay, not a lot happened in McKinley High, so I guess that's one thing, but still. It was stupid as fuck.

Also, my girlfriend and mother of my kid were going way overboard, reminding me why I spent so many years avoiding her save for the slushie thing.

Here I, Puck the Badass, am suddenly finding myself at the line in the crappy cafeteria for lunch, listening halfheartedly to Rachel blabbering on and on about color coordination and shit. It wasn't interesting in the least the first time I was forced to listen, and counting this time (the fifth) it was not getting any better.

I grabbed a couple of bottled water and quickly scanned the measly food options for something that wouldn't a) upset my scary ass pregnant girl's unstable stomach and b) force me into yet another lecture about dietary habits and what not. Don't even ask me how many times I've listened to that…

"… What do you say, Noah?"

Oh shit, she was actually asking for my opinion. "Uhm, sure, sounds great." I feebly replied, hoping I would dodge a bullet that would pierce me relentlessly. Unfortunately, Rachel's dark eyes narrowed ominously and I knew I was screwed.

"Oh really. That's nice that you're agreeing that we should wear matching outfits to the Thunderclap. I'll make sure you get your pink shirt with laces this afternoon."

Crap. It was almost painful, but I managed a semi smile. "Sounds awesome. I'm hot enough for it to work, so bring it on, Berry."

Rachel rolled her eyes and started making her way over to the glee table in the corner where the rest of the gleeks were sitting, minus Santana, Brittany and Finn.

Quinn's eyes met mine briefly before they traveled over to Rachel's, or more specifically, her protruding belly. "Wow, Rachel, you look like yours is gonna be a big one. I mean, you're bigger than me already. Maybe you're taking the whole 'eat for two' too literally."

"Hey," I got out, fully ready to say something I probably shouldn't say in retaliation, when Rachel's tiny hand slipped into mine and she put on her diva smile.

"Thank you Quinn. I appreciate your honesty and may I just say that your pregnancy is making you glow. It's nice to see that not living with your parents, hasn't affected your beauty. Good thing living with them won't ever be an issue again."

I raised a brow, noticing the shocked look in not only Quinn's eyes, but the rest of the group sitting at the table. Rachel bringing up a hurtful subject all the while looking perky and innocent was definitely not like her.

I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a bit turned on. And, as an added bonus; she was no longer mad at me.

Of course, I wasn't the one hurt by her words so it was no skin off my back, but judging from the flash of genuine hurt in Quinn's eyes she was hit pretty bad.

"I-I've gotta…uhm, the food doesn't agree with me. Excuse me." Quinn muttered and in seconds, she was across the room and out the door.

I traded an uncomfortable glance with the other gleeks, while Rachel stood without moving, looking blankly at her fellow teenage mom to be's escape.

"I'll be right back," said Rachel after another long minute and left. I wanted desperately to go after her, there was still a part inside of me that feared that Quinn's vindictive side would spill everything and I just didn't want it. For some reason, the thought of losing Rachel and not just my future child was sending chills down my spine. And also, I really wanted to be there if it evolved into a chick fight.

Artie interrupted my thoughts and I allowed him to distract me from giving in to my desire to run after my girlfriend. "Pregnant girls can be evil, yo."

Rolling my eyes, I smiled and nodded in agreement. "Tell me about it, Dog."

0o0o0

When I saw Rachel again, she was sitting in the choir room right next to Quinn, and they both looked…happy. I'll never understand girls, never.

I walked up to them, but other than a quick smile from Rachel, they didn't acknowledge me so I walked over to Finn instead.

"Hey Man," he greeted me, smiling widely as was his habit. "Got booted from the girl moment like me? I think they're like connecting over being pregnant and stuff. It's nice, to be honest, it's the first time I've seen Quinn so relaxed in a long time."

I looked over at the girls and realized that Finn was right. Quinn looked better than I'd seen in a while and for once, her smile was just as big and beautiful as Rachel's. Well, I conceded on the inside, no one's smile was a beautiful as Rachel's, but it did give the cheerleader a human façade that fit her well.

My observations were put on hold when Mr. Shuester came into the room grinning brightly with a proud look in his eyes. "Great news gang, I've gotten you a spot on the Thunderclap."

All around me there was groans and moans even as Shue continued explaining the conditions. I sighed, knowing full well, who Rachel would expect to be Co-Captain with. Damn boyfriend responsibilities.

I knew that I would most likely have avoided taking any pictures with her and anything involving Glee Club not too long ago, but I wasn't a pansy. I could handle whatever mockery I was bound to get. And if Azimo and his wanna be just as cool as me friends said anything, I knew I could kick their asses. Although, I knew I'd have to hide it from Rachel, knowing her views on violence whenever it wasn't about music or her place in the spotlight.

Out of the corner of my eyes I could see the pitying looks from some of my fellow gleeks and I turned my head and smirked, making damn sure they all knew I wasn't scared of anything, especially getting one fucking picture taken.

Besides, the beaming look that Rachel kept sending my way for the duration of practice was well worth it.

0o0o0

The next day went by and before I knew it, Rach was dragging me down the hallway to the room where the photographer had set up shop so to speak. They got into some boring debate about something with angles and light and crap, so naturally I stopped paying attention, preferring to flex my big ass guns a bit as a much needed distraction.

Suddenly I heard sobbing and I nearly broke my neck, that's how fast I snapped it around to see what was going on. One quick glare at the shocked photographer told me that he hadn't deliberately made Rachel cry, so I stopped planning his imminent death and turned to console my girl.

Except, in the blink of an eye, Rachel stood up, wiped her face delicately with a monogrammed handkerchief and said, "As you can see, my acting skills are perfect. I can do anything, so you won't have to hold any auditions, Sir."

"Seriously?" I asked, crossing my arms and raising my eyebrow in question.

All I got for my trouble, was a ," Shh, Noah, not right now," before Rachel's full attention flew back to the older man, who was looking at her like she'd just popped the kid in front of him. I could totally relate, and I knew beforehand that Berry had the Crazies.

Fifteen minutes later, Rachel was damn near skipping her way into the choir room to announce her part in getting us all a part in a mattress commercial. I couldn't help but grin proudly as the others started basically jumping for joy.

Of course, we all needed Rachel's brilliance to get a decent commercial done when it came down to it. I found out that I couldn't act for shit and that sucked. But we ended up doing something way cooler than some lame sketch. But it wasn't without difficulties, because I learned that my growing feelings for Rachel were turning into this massive protective instinct.

The minute she stepped onto those admittedly soft mattresses, I freaked. Within two quick strides, I'd reached her and helped her down to the ground again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the rest of our club looking at me like I'd lost my fucking mind. But I hadn't, I just didn't want anything to happen to Rachel or our kid and that's pretty much what I told her.

"You're being ridiculous, Noah," Rachel announced, placing one hand on her hip and the other on her baby bump. "I mean, look at Quinn, she's further along than I am, but I don't see Finn stomping around acting like an asinine alpha male."

Behind me I heard Finn's voice, "I think Puck's right, Quinn. You should, you know, be careful."

"Don't drag me into this!" Quinn's hissed response was clearly audible over the mutterings of the crew around us. I couldn't care less, I just wanted Rachel to get off her high horse and listen to me.

"Look," I ran a hand through my 'hawk, trying not to let my frustration show too much, "you might be right about the Quinn part, but you're bigger than her already, so you look more and probably are more fragile and-"

"Wait, are you calling me fat?"

Instantly my self-preservation threw up huge neon signs in my mind that flashed repeatedly, "Abort, and get the hell out of Dodge!" I swallowed a lump of something that was definitely not fear and soldiered on.

"You can't deny that your baby bump is just a little bit bigger than hers, so you should just be more careful, that's all…" I was pretty much sweating bullets as I ended the sentence. The glare she was giving me was worse than anything I'd ever been on the receiving end of before, and let's not forget that I dated Santana for a long time.

"Oh really? So not only do you see me as a disgusting pig," I had no fucking idea where she got that from, "but you're saying that I'm weak too. I can't believe you."

Rachel turned to walk away from me, probably to call her fathers, who would come running and more than likely be packing heat to end my sorry ass, and I snapped.

I grabbed hold of her wrist and stopped her from walking away from me as I all but yelled out, "Stop being so stupid, Berry. You're not fat; I don't see you as a fat pig at all. You're fucking beautiful and anyone claiming anything else will get their ass kicked! And I don't think you're weak, I'm pretty sure you could wipe the floor with just about anyone here. And fucking excuse me for caring about my kid; I don't want anything to happen to any of you, especially over some stupid commercial, okay? But fuck that; go jump to the damn roof amd crack your skull for all I care!"

I stopped, taking a deep breath to calm my anger, while trying to ignore the dumbfounded expressions on the faces I could see out of the corner of my eyes. I knew my badass reputation was in serious jeopardy, but fuck if I cared at that point in time. I was furious all of the sudden; why the hell did Rachel suddenly act like everything we'd been through didn't matter? Why was she treating me like I was an asshole? Well, fuck her, I wasn't going to come running if she tumbled off one of the fluffy mattresses and hurt herself or our child.

I gasped as the image of an injured Rachel suddenly flew into my mind and I retracted my earlier thoughts instantly. Of course I would come running; I'd have her at the nearest hospital before any of the others would even get a chance to fucking blink. The mere thought of her hurt was causing my entire body to tremor for a moment.

Rachel's voice brought me back to the present and I looked down at her silently, gaping a bit at her soft spoken words. "Okay then. Thank you Noah for caring and I'm sorry for misinterpreting your intentions. I'll sit over by Artie during shooting. Tina can take the first verse where all the action is taking place."

Then the crazy brunette leaned up on her toes and planted a quick, sweet kiss on my still slightly parted lips and walked over to Artie where Quinn was sitting too and sending glares at Finn. I felt someone walk over to me and I looked to the side and met Finn's gaze. He looked almost miserable.

"What?"

"Now I have to come up with something just as awesome to prove my feelings or there'll be no living with her after this…" Finn announced quietly, biting his lips in worry. His entire face was etched in concentration and I could feel my spirit rising and I let out a barking laugh and slapped him on the back.

"Good luck with that, Dude."

We didn't get a chance to talk more after that because Rachel interrupted the moment by calling out, "Are we doing this or what? We might need another rehearsal now that Tina is taking over and her voice could use a bit of a better warm up, seeing as it's not as powerful as my own."

Grinning I took my place, but not before sharing a small, sincere smile with Rachel, who was now perched beside Artie like the Diva she really was.

0o0o0

It didn't take long before the ad was aired and that's when I was hit by another wave of problems. Not only did Mr. Shue's home life turn to shit; his and Sue Sylvester's actions brought even more drama to our lives and we had to take a full on Thunderclap picture without him, but when I got home that afternoon, after dropping Rachel off at her house, I was met with my mother's loud voice.

"NOAH PUCKERMAN! WHY DID I HEAR THAT RACHEL BERRY IS HAVING YOUR BABY AT WORK TODAY?"

I held up a finger to stop her momentarily as she barreled down the stairs, practically shooting fire out of her nose, and took out my phone and dialed Rachel's number. She answered after the first ring and I quickly spoke before she could say anything.

"So you know how we planned to tell my mom about everything this weekend? Well, it might be a little too late for that…"

There was a beat of silence and then I heard Rachel sigh heavily. "I'll get my dads and be right over, Noah." Then she hung up and I gingerly placed my phone on the coffee table and looked right into my mom's narrowed eyes. I took in a deep breath and let it out with a nod at my mom a second later.

"Okay, now you can start..."

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TEN

I'm a bit (try a lot) surprised that Ma doesn't immediately jump into a huge screaming fit the moment I gave my permission. Instead, she leans back, crosses her arm and gives me this look. You know the Look that every kid, boy or girl, eventually gets when they've done something really really stupid.

I swallow down my growing nerves as the silence keeps getting tenser by the minute. It feels like an eternity passes by before there's a quick knock on the door and Rachel unceremouniously enters my house. She looks determined and her chin is held high and all that keeps running through my frozen mind is, "Thank fuck she's here!"

"Hello Mrs. Puckerman, I'm sorry to barge in here unannounced, but seeing as this conversation also involves me, I deemed it important to be here." Her brown eyes shine with some kind of emotion I can't quite decipher as she sits down on the couch next to me. She turns her head towards the door and speaks again, "You can come in now."

Her dads walk inside, looking like they don't quite know what to expect and I can't quite keep a small snort from getting out. Gay or straight, all men are wary of angry women. It actually calms me down a bit. I catch Abraham's eye and he seems to know what I'm thinking because the fucker actually winks at me while Hiram walks over and greets my mom with a polite handshake.

Ma looks like she doesn't know whether to shout for them all to get the hell out or get up and be a decent host and get them all something to drink. She compromises by smiling and gesturing for Rachel's dads to take a seat before turning her attention back on us – or more importantly, Rachel's baby bump.

"So it is true," she starts and I feel Rach tense next to me, but her expression remains calm. "You're having my son's child." The disapproval flows out of every pore of my mother's body. I hope to God she doesn't say something stupid, because although I'm without a doubt a momma's boy that loves and respect his mom, I won't stand for anyone dissing my girl. No one.

"I can see that you're having obvious concerns about this," Rachel suddenly says and I look at her, frowning, because what the hell? Don't provoke the beast. Regardless of my attempted telepathic message and/or warning, Rachel continues, "We've already discussed things with my parents and you should feel comfortable asking any questions. I have nothing to hide."

Ma narrows her eyes and I shift uncomfortably on the couch, recognizing the look as the one she gave me the one time I called her a bitch and she washed my mouth out with soap.

"Well, judging from your body, you couldn't hide it if you tried." Oh snap, I wince internally, praying that Rachel's sensitivity won't be offended by my mom's direct insult.

"Sarah," Abraham warns softly, and it occurs to me that our parents actually know each other from before, fuck; they might even have gone to high school together.

My mom looks over at Abraham and I manage to catch a brief glimpse of repentance before she turns her attention back on us. This time her eyes land on me. "Noah, what were you thinking? This is not a life I would've chosen for you. I know your tendencies for trouble have always been a part of you, something you've inherited from your father no doubt, but this…I'm so disappointed in you, Noah."

There's this lump of something almost choking me, damn it all to hell, she brought out the dad card. She knows that one of my deepest fears is being compared to that asshole. That, because I look like him, I'll turn out like him.

My jaw clenches and I manage to swallow through the lump in my throat. "I'm sorry, Ma."

"Knocking a girl up at sixteen is just irresponsible! I can't say anything to Rachel, her shame is for her parents to deal with, but you! What kind of role model is this setting for your sister? Your-"

"Stop it," the words leave my mouth before I'm even aware that I was about to speak. My mother's mouth falls open in shock as I continue coldly, "Call me whatever you want, but don't make it sound like Rachel's a slut. She's not, far from it actually. She was a virgin the night we made that baby. So just fucking stop."

I take a deep breath, and feel Rachel's hand slip into mine to offer me silent support. Fuck it, in for a penny in for a pound or whatever; I speak again. "And as for me letting you down and setting bad examples for my sister, well…fuck you."

Ma gasps like I've gravely offended her, but for once I don't give a shit. I swear, I catch Abraham grinning before I look back into my mom's widened eyes. "You got knocked up too, remember? Then you looked the other way when Dad smacked me around once in a while," here I pretend not to notice the Berry's' reaction to that part of my family history and add quietly, "You let me take care of you whenever he went after you too, how's that for irresponsible? Cleaning up your messes after your fights, getting a job at the age of seven to help pay for stuff when you got pregnant with Hannah. How about the times when I acted more like her fucking parent than her brother because you had to work late? How about the fact that I've never oncelet you down when it comes to the important stuff? What about all the times where I've spent my money and my time on fixing this house? How about…"

I feel Rachel squeeze my hand and that's when I realize I'm fucking crying like a baby. Tears are falling down my face like I've just watched Titanic for the first time. Fuck off, that shit was sad. After another deep breath, I stand up and finish my monologue, "How about some fucking support, huh?"

After that I just left. I walked out the door, ignoring my mother's choked attempt at calling out my name. I act like I don't hear Rachel's voice doing the same. I just need to get the fuck out of here to breathe.

0o0o0

Later that night, after it has turned dark, I finally venture home. I park the truck at the curve instead of the driveway. A part of me half expects that I'm no longer allowed inside and wants to be ready for a quick escape.

I notice that all the lights are still on and that Rachel's dads' car is still parked by the house too. Damn it, I hoped they'd be long gone by now. I don't get a chance to think any longer, because in that moment, the front door is opened and Rachel appears.

Her face looks pale and I hate that my fucked up life has made her worry. It can't be good for her either. Silently, I exit my truck and just stand there like a loser that can't figure out what to do.

As always, Rachel has no such difficulties and she walks towards me and when she reaches me, she just wraps her arms around me and holds me tight.

"It's going to be okay," she whispers and I sigh, leaning my head on her head, embracing her smell like she was some sort of rare flower that only bloom once every hundredth year or something lame like that.

"I fucking hope so," I finally reply and press a quick kiss on her soft hair.

"She's really upset about everything," Rachel confides in me, "after you left, she started crying and I think your words got through to her in a way none of us could've anticipated."

I frown and look down at her, holding her out from me a bit. "What are you talking about?"

"I think what you said is something that she needed to hear, Noah. You two need to talk about things when we're not around too of course, but I honestly think she's turned around. After you left and she regained her composure a bit, she asked me about my pregnancy and stuff. It's weird, but I feel as though we bonded as fellow females."

"Noah?" My mother's voice interrupts the moment of pure peace I'm having with Rachel and I look over her head to meet my mom's worried gaze. "A-Aren't you coming inside?"

In her tired eyes, I suddenly see everything. Regret, sadness, guilt, anger, fear and most of all, love. It's the last part that makes me nod and walk inside.

An hour later, Rachel and her dads leave just as quickly as they came. I steal one quick kiss from Rachel, before I watch her get in the car and drive away; away from all my drama and hopefully home to get a good night's sleep.

I go up to my room without speaking to Ma; I just put on my sweatpants and wife-beater and fall into my rumbled bed, exhausted. A little while later, my door opens and I see Ma's silhouette in the windows, I don't turn around, but I know that she knows that I'm not asleep.

"I'll try to be better," I hear her whisper before I feel her lips on my head. "I'm sorry." Then she leaves just as quietly as she came and I blink away the excess moisture in my eyes, trying to remind myself that I'm not a wimp.

I'm not.

0o0o0

The time for Sectionals is coming up, and for once I'm just as devoted to that as Rachel is. Well, okay, that's probably a lie, because no one is more into this whole thing than she is, but still. I pay attention, sing my heart out like a pro and genuinely do whatever I can to not think about stuff.

My friendship with Finn is growing by the minute and we keep sharing these knowing looks whenever our girls have what we've fondly named, "pregnancy moments." It's nice; it would've been a hell of a lot better if I didn't feel my guilt start to grow too.

Yes, I fucked Quinn, I might have sired another kid and my best friend doesn't know shit and keep saying things like, "my kid's gonna learn how to read a lot faster than I did, so he won't be manipulated into stuff like you did to me," or, "Do you think the kid will look a lot like me or more like Quinn, 'cause she beautiful."

Fuck my life.

My mood suffers and I know that people are noticing. Some of the dweebs that I used to torment on a daily basis have started dodging me in the hallways again, like my sad excuse of a life means that I'll start to prey on them again. The only one that doesn't try to get me to talk, or sends me worried looks is Mr. Shuester of all people.

But then again, that's one man whose life sucks worse than mine at the moment, so I go out of my way to actually show up in his class and participate a bit.

Other than that, I've pretty much turned into a douche. Lashing out verbally to anyone, and not even Rachel gets off free. During glee, she tries to get me to talk about whether or not I've worked things out with my mom and I snap.

"Butt the fuck out, Berry," I sneer and grab my backpack and leaves the now deadly silent choir room. I hear footsteps approaching, and I don't turn around, because I'm so not interested in seeing Rachel's hurt eyes cut me to pieces and make me feel like an even bigger ass.

"Puck, slow down!" I stop in shock, it was one of the voices I least expected.

Quinn is holding a hand over her belly protectively as she finally reaches my immobile self and then quickly punches me on the arm. "Why are you being such an ass to Rachel? She really cares about you so you shouldn't act like that."

"Well," I smirk, ignoring the pinch of guilt for what I said to Rachel that flares to life at Quinn's words, "you should just stay fuck out of it and leave me alone. Besides, you wouldn't want to give the impression that you care about a Lima loser, right?"

Quinn rolls her eyes and I wonder how I ever thought she was the most beautiful girl around. Rachel has her beat by miles and miles. "Whatever, Puckerman. But, for some reason, Rachel is a semi friend of mine now and we're both experiencing things that no one else can understand so I don't like to see her hurt. Especially by you."

"Oh really," I step closer, getting right into her personal space for the first time since we slept together. She looks like she struggles to stay put. "Like I'm the only one who's ever acted like a jerk around her."

"Everything we've ever done to her, pales in comparison to what we did together…" Quinn's voice is soft and it's clear that after getting pregnant Quinn's been developing a heart. "It eats away at me now that I hang out with her…"

"Us fucking happened before I got together with Rachel," I try to act nonchalant, but we both know it's not working.

"Yeah, maybe. But I was with Finn, so we're still pretty much evil."

I exhale a heavy breath, running a hand through my 'hawk. "I know. I think maybe, we gotta tell them." Quinn's eyes widen in fear and I hasten to explain, "I know what we did was shitty, but I got a kid on the way and I think we all deserve to know if I've got another one coming too."

"I made love to Finn," Quinn insists, looking down at the ground. "We just had sex. It's his child, I can feel it." She pauses and then adds so quietly that I can barely hear her, "oh, God I really hope it's his child…"

I don't say anything to that, because it's obvious that I feel exactly the same.

A few minutes later, we've agreed to meet up and discuss how we're gonna tell Finn and Rachel about everything. We do immediately agree to wait until after Sectionals though, just to play it safe. Rachel would never forgive me if I messed up the competition, even if it was in an attempt to clear my conscience. She really wants to win and mixed with her hormones, I'm not exactly willing to bet on my survival should I ruin things for her.

When I re-enter the choir room, Rachel's beautiful eyes meet mine and I flinch at the sight of tears in her eyes, hating that my fucking temper brought them on. I sit down next to her and place an arm around her chair and apologize sincerely, for a lot more than she even knows.

Smiling, Rachel kisses my nose and I copy her smile, happy that we're cool again. I once again clamp down hard on the pessimistic side of me that warns me that it won't be that easy when the truth comes out.

I look over at Quinn and we both nod almost without moving. It'll be after Sectionals.

Except, once again, I forgot something, or more like someone. Jacob Ben Ishrael and his uncanny ability to fuck up my life even more…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER ELEVEN

After a boring, but thankfully peaceful day, I drove Rachel home from school, since I'd picked her up that morning. Things were back to normal. She was talking a mile a minute and I'd become quite accustomed to it and it barely took any effort on my part to nod and hum in agreement every once in a while.

Pulling up to the house and exiting the truck, I grabbed her ugly pink excuse of a school bag and wheeled it inside her house, noticing the appreciative looks she gave me. I almost fucking preened, I liked those looks.

I started making my way to the kitchen, kindda hoping she'd take the hint and make me something to eat. Something like one of those kickass sandwiches she'd made before, or I'd even take some of those cookies she was so infamous for. Okay, I probably would prefer those; I'd stolen a few of Finn's when she'd showed up with a plateful once and sworn that I'd never tasted anything as awesome. The girl could cook, that's all I'm sayin'.

Rachel didn't seem to get my hint and after I'd hovered around in her kitchen and looked into her fridge a few times (heh, try ten), I turned around and was about to yell out for her when I froze in my tracks. Seriously, it was like every cell in my body just…you know, stopped moving at the same time.

Rachel Fucking Berry was standing in the doorway to the kitchen wearing nothing but her bra and panties (and her knee socks, fuck I loved those things). "I thought we could satiate a different kind of hunger today," Rachel wasn't looking me in the eye, obviously too nervous to meet my gaze. I think she was aiming for the cupboard behind me, but I didn't care. I was busy having a mixture between a heart attack and a seizing shock or what the fuck ever.

How had I ever considered her not hot? Damn. She was stunning and the sight of her swollen belly, something that was present because of me, gave me this sick satisfaction that I can't even describe. I think it's a leftover from the caveman genes that are inside every guy.

"Are…" Rachel hesitated before she jumped right back in and my eyes trailed down her magnificent body again, hell, I was practically drooling, "are you coming?"

Close, but not until you do; a wicked part of me almost exclaimed, but fortunately for me (and my now aching dick) I managed to keep the words inside of me. Instead, I just nodded with what I just know was this astonished look on my face. I hadn't expected this at all.

But I liked it. I fucking loved it and I followed her like a lost puppy when she started making her way up to her room.

She took control, and I let her, still too busy ogling her sweet body. I sat down on the bed, and the next thing I knew I had Rachel on my lap, grinding in just the right place and I moaned and attacked her full lips.

Kissing her was always a sure way to get turned on, and normally I'd be okay to not push my luck, but considering how I'd ended up here on her bed in the first place, I quickly let my hands travel down her body. I used every skill in my not too shabby arsenal and before long; Rachel was throwing her head back, groaning in pleasure.

I switched our positions and laid her down gingerly on the bed, a part of me was very much aware of the fact that she was pregnant and I didn't want to hurt her, but the majority of my being was focused on finally being with her that way again, because, fuck, it'd been way too long since I'd gotten laid. One's own hand just wasn't the same, you know.

After a few more moments of heavy making out and lingering touches that felt like it set my skin on fire, we were both completely naked (except for Rachel's knee socks, I wouldn't let her take those bad boys off), and I lifted my head from her breasts that had increased a bit in size to ask her softly if she was sure about this. I tried not letting her see that if she said no, I'd probably die from spontaneously bursting into flames, because I really wanted her to be absolutely sure about this for some reason.

Rachel smiled soothingly, her eyes still burning with a lust for me that was only matched by my lust for her, and whispered, "If I wasn't; then your willingness to stop for me has made me completely sure. I'm ready, Noah. Please make love to me."

Fuck, I swear, if I hadn't been as experienced as I was, I would totally have cum just from hearing that. Damn, it was hot. Rachel Berry; Lima High's undeniable future star was begging me to sex her up.

All but shaking from eagerness, I spread her legs, finding her more than ready for me, but just as I was about to ease my way into her, I stopped. My eyes trailed over her belly and I turned around, lying down on my back. "I don't want to hurt the baby." I heard a gasp and met Rachel's widened eyes. Immediately, I recognized the insecurity in the look she was giving me and I explained further, "Don't worry, Berry; I still want you more than I fucking want to breathe right now, but I want you on top, Babe."

Rachel's eyes turned shiny and for a second, I worried if she'd start to cry, because, let's face it; the chick was fairly hormonal, but then she blinked and did as I'd asked. Got on top and put all her flexibility training to the best use I'd ever witnessed and reminded me in no uncertain terms why I'd put her on the top of my best… well, you know what, list.

After having more than great sex two more times, taking a much needed break for eating, where Rachel cooked the most delicious dish I'd ever tasted, or it could've been sand for all I cared, I was that hungry, we fixed ourselves up and went down to the living room and watched the beginning of Funny Girl just in time to avoid being caught by her dads.

Although, the look Abraham gave me was pretty direct and I think he wanted me to know that we weren't fooling anybody. Well, except maybe Hiram, who seemed better off thinking that Rachel's pregnancy was the result of the Man Upstairs and not some teenaged illicitness or whatever it is that Rachel called it.

Rachel walked me to the door when it was time for me to leave. She smiled brightly at me and suddenly, I had this weird feeling inside me, like bad things were about to come around the corner and I took her in my arms and took a deep breath, taking in that special scent that was all Rachel.

"Noah," her voice was filled with humor, when it became clear a few minutes later, that I had no intention of letting her go anytime soon, "I'll see you in school tomorrow. If you're a good boy, I might even pack a lunch that we can share. I feel that my cravings do not match up to the cafeteria's dietary plans."

I swallowed, and tried to shake off that uncomfortable feeling that had now settled itself in my gut like a rock. With a heavy sigh, I finally released Rachel from my grip, but not before I'd planted a big kiss on her, fortunately, eager lips.

"I'm counting on it," I muttered, smirking happily. It had been one of the best days I could remember having and I wanted her to know it, even though I was too cool to actually say it out loud. But like always, Rachel seemed to get my meaning and pecked my lips sweetly once.

"I had a nice time today, Noah. I'll see you tomorrow."

I took my sweet time walking out to my truck, still not able to shake that peculiar feeling of upcoming doom inside me. Before I took off towards my own house to have a much needed talk with my mother, I looked over at the door where I'd just left Rachel. She was still there; she even waved at me and gestured for me to leave with a grin on her face.

Finally, I complied, hoping that for once, my luck would actually be around to prevent whatever it was that was about to happen.

0o0o0

Of course, I should've known better than to hope.

I woke up that morning and stubbed my toe getting out of the bed, I damn near broke my neck getting downstairs, tripping over one of Hannah's stupid toys. The truck didn't want to start so I was late for school. Really late.

I sent a text to Rachel, explaining that I wouldn't be able to get to school until glee ( no way was I missing that and risking getting cut off from all things Berrylicious), but she didn't reply and I thought she was already in class, too absorbed to notice my message. Yeah right…

When I finally arrived at the school, it was between classes, so the hallways were full of people. I frowned when I saw some strange looks, but I just ignored that and continued towards the choir room.

The second I opened the doors to what had somehow managed to become my favorite class, it all went south. The first thing I saw was the gleeks sitting in huddles, whispering breathlessly with their cell phones on, then I spotted Quinn's crying face and before I got to look for Rachel, already knowing what had happened, I was hit in the face with a fist and I went down hard.

Now, don't get me wrong, on a normal day I could kick anyone's ass in this fucked up school, hell, the town, but that was only because I never went down; no matter what I stayed up. So, when I finally got knocked on my ass without warning, I couldn't do anything other than take the punches that the taller Finn (come on, although I hadn't seen my attacker, I knew who it was), threw at me with a passion that I didn't think he had in him.

The piercing pain from the beating, the coppery taste of my own blood gushing from my nose and my mouth, the shocked screams in the background, none of that mattered.

I just wanted to let Finn get all his well deserved anger out, so I could try and locate my girlfriend, at least, to find out if she was still my girlfriend in the first place.

Finally, after what felt like a fucking eternity, I heard Mr. Shue's voice and soon after Mike and Matt were pulling the still raging Finn of me. I spat out a mouthful of blood and sat up; grabbing the hand that Mike reached out to me. He'd always been my friend more than Finn's, so I was moved that he still wanted to acknowledge me and help me out.

"Thanks Man," I muttered, swallowing another mouthful of my blood. Finn was still roaring insults at me, and Quinn too, who was now downright sobbing into Mercedes ample chest.

If I hadn't felt so fucking guilty, I would probably have told him to stop harassing a pregnant girl and just take his anger out on me again, but all I could do was let me eyes search through all the people present until I found Rachel's.

We locked eyes and for one, indescribable moment, it was like I was flayed alive. The look in her eyes portrayed so much hurt and betrayal that I wanted to go kill myself in the most painful way known to man. Hell, I'd even cut off my own balls with a dull and rusty meat cleaver and I guarantee that it wouldn't hurt as much as she was hurting right now.

Then she blinked once, and it was like she'd put up a wall, because any and all emotion on her face, in her eyes went blank. She kept staring at me with that dead look and after a few moments, I just couldn't bear to meet her stare anymore and I looked down at the ground in shame.

I put all my attention on the blood on the linoleum floor, for some reason it was the most interesting thing I'd ever seen. I swallowed hard; I had this really big urge to cry and scream; fuck, why hadn't I just kept holding her in that doorway until the baby came?

"…hate them! Fucking liars! Go to Hell! Won't look at you ever again!"

I vaguely heard the insults, and Quinn's sobbing and begging, "Finn, Please, I'm so sorry," but I just couldn't find myself caring anymore. The way Rachel had looked at me had cut me more deeply, wounded me more than Finn's beating had. I felt like I was drowning in the ocean, unable to kick my feet to go to the surface for air.

Suddenly, the screaming and yelling was brought to an end by the most unlikely voice. Rachel's. "Be quiet!"

We all looked over at her, she was still sitting in her seat; her feet daintily crossed and one arm placed protectively in front of her stomach. "Finn, sit down, shut up and warm up. We have Sectionals tomorrow. Quinn, stop crying, it will damage your voice. The rest of you get in position or so help me, I will not answer to the consequences."

Rachel sent us all this scathing look that her pregnancy hormones seemed to intensify because everyone actually did as she ordered. Finn meekly sat down next to her, wiping his eyes. Quinn blew her nose and tried getting herself together. The rest of the gang soundlessly took their places, not even Santana said a word, no doubt knowing that at that point in time she was no longer the scariest bitch around.

Mr. Shue came up to me and asked me if I wanted to go to the nurse to get my injuries checked, but I shook my head no. I unceremoniously wiped my face in my shirt, not caring about the bloodstains and walked over to my assigned place.

The rehearsal was a joke, and Finn was out the door faster than anyone. The others obviously hesitated between following him or staying behind to witness more drama. Quinn stood up, glanced guiltily over at Rachel before coming to my side and explaining things to me, despite me not caring about anything except getting Rachel to look at me again.

"Jacob filmed our conversation yesterday and put it up on his blog early this morning. By the time Rachel came to school, it was already out on most people's cell phones. I would've called to warn you, but I wanted to try and talk to Finn, but he just wanted to fight you…I'm sorry."

I nodded, my eyes still glued to the back of Rachel's head. Quinn copied me and sighed, rubbing a hand over her tiny baby bump. "She hasn't looked at me either. It's like I no longer exist and coming from her and her usual level of drama, it scares me."

I didn't visibly react this time, but I silently agreed with Quinn. Rachel Berry not reacting to things dramatically wasn't really Rachel Berry at all. The thought of her never looking at me with that almost adoring smile made me realize without any preamble or diversions that I loved her. Fuck, I loved her.

"Rach, please," my plea escaped my lips without warning and Quinn quickly walked over to the still waiting Mercedes.

Rachel turned around from her task of organizing her trolley, meeting my begging eyes with those scarily dead ones of hers. "I need to explain, just fucking let me explain, please," I continued when she didn't say anything.

The seconds clicked by and my heart was thumping uncomfortably in my chest, my head and my ribs were pounding with agony after Finn's actions, but all I could do was hold my breath as I waited for Rachel's judgment.

"Honestly, I find myself not really in the right mood to listen to anything you have to say at the moment," she eventually said and started making her way out the door. Then she paused briefly and looked me dead in the eye and added the final nail to my coffin before leaving quietly, "Goodbye Puck."

Puck?

Never, not once, even after countless of slushies and dumb shit like that, had Rachel called me anything but Noah. I'd successfully ruined any chances with the girl I loved.

"Fuck!" I kicked the piano chair so hard in my frustration that it hit the wall and broke into several pieces, just like the heart I didn't knew I had.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TWELVE

I was walking up the hallways in the school, looking around at the empty surroundings. It was bizarre, after a few minutes of aimlessly wandering around looking like a fucking dork, I heard something. I turned and spotted the door to the choir room. It was closed.

I swallowed nervously; I hadn't been inside that room since everything went to hell in a hand basket. Slowly, I reached out and opened the door and walked inside.

Then I blinked in confusion, it wasn't the choir room; it was a church and I let my eyes take in the Gleeks sitting in their finest get up in the pews, smiling widely up at the front. I followed their gazes and if I hadn't been such a badass, I might have started to scream at the terrifying sight in front of me.

Rachel in the most beautiful wedding dress I'd ever seen, that had the impossible task of making her even more beautiful was smiling with adoration up at Finn. They were gripping hands and their shared love was oozing out of them. I think I gagged and the sound suddenly brought me to everyone's attention.

Finn waved goofily, but didn't speak and Rachel turned to me with that horrifying dead look in her eyes now present. "I don't love you Puck. I'm with the man I ever truly loved; the one I know I can trust."

"B-But," I squeaked out, my heart hammering in my chest as though it was trying to beat its way out my body. "You're Jewish…you shouldn't…"

"What?" Abraham's icy voice drew my attention away from Rachel, whose belly I now realized with a start was flat, "she shouldn't marry the guy who is not a Jew? Seriously, Puckerman, I thought you knew that we converted when she decided to marry Finn."

"Yes, right after I lost the baby. I was sad at first, of course," Rachel explained, now suddenly beaming with freakish delight, "but I guess it was just Karma's way of making sure I didn't bring an abomination into the world. You know, another Lima Loser."

Okay, crash overload or what the fuck ever; Rachel not only married Finn, but lost our baby and is apparently totally happy about it! I could feel a roar of grief and anger approaching and I abruptly turned to flee before I did something majorly stupid, but to my surprise there was no door anymore and I was just about to lose it when…

"PUCK!"

With a gasp, I sat up and looked around; feeling my heart rate slow as the fear gradually left my body. I looked into Mike's concerned eyes; apparently, he was the one that had woken me up.

Thank Fuck; it had only been a dream. A nightmare of epic proportions and I hated that odd feeling of fear and irrational dread that still lingered inside of me. Shaking it off, I looked around to see that the bus was emptying fast and I stood up, grabbing my shit and followed Mike outside.

Of course, 'cause my life is downright crappy right now, the first thing I saw, stepping out of the damned bus was Finn standing besides Rachel with a soft smile on his face. I've never wanted to kick anyone's ass as much as right then. No matter how guilty I felt about the whole Quinn debacle.

I forced my more primal instincts down, knowing that I did deserve to feel like shit. But fuck, if that Sasquatch even thought about touching Rachel's lady berries, I'd smoke him.

As I'd tried several times, I couldn't resist yet again trying to catch Rachel's eyes. But it was impossible. She basically acted like I no longer existed and it sucked. Big time.

Sighing heavily to myself, I followed the rest of the gang as they made their way inside the place where we were gonna stay and also perform (Figgins was too cheap to get us rooming in another place so we'd be bunking in the hotel area).

I looked around tiredly. Miss Pillsbury was looking flustered and a bit creeped out over all the new spaces she'd have to, I don't know, go and disinfect before she could breathe calmly or something. Mr. Shue's absence was weighing us all down, putting an ever bigger cloud over us than the Babygate scandal (as it had been so sweetly named) had brought forth.

But I guess that weirdness or not, it could've been a hell of a lot worse. Finn had tried to refuse to perform and he'd even stayed longer at Football practice to try and avoid us. Try being the most important word here, 'cause once Rachel heard about that little idea, she'd unceremoniously stormed into the locker room and from what I heard Mike saying, all but dragged the tall quarterback and her former crush outside by his ears where she proceeded to almost make him cry for even thinking about abandoning New Directions.

Fuck, I loved that girl…

I didn't get a lot of time to think before we'd been assigned rooms to sleep in sent into the Green Room to prepare. I quickly changed into the clothes we would be wearing during our performance and once again, tried to make Rachel see me.

It was fruitless, she went into the nearest restroom to change and when she came back, she stayed planted next to Miss Pillsbury's side. I sighed and followed Mike, Matt, Brittany and Santana out to the floor, where we could watch the other groups do their thing.

On the way, I noticed the glares that Santana sent my way and I rolled my eyes. "What?"

"If I didn't want to win this thing so badly, I'd kick your ass," she said with her evil smile firmly in place. "You boinking Manhands-"

I think I actually growled at the name and Santana quickly continued with an annoyed roll of her eyes, "-boinking Berry and knocking her up was bad enough, but having your spawn come out of Quinn too is just too much to handle."

"I'd butt out of our lives if I were you," Quinn's voice said icily behind me, before I could get a chance to say anything. Santana's eyes narrowed, but I guess she wasn't entirely lost to reason, 'cause, come on, Quinn's hormones might not have been as crazy scary as Rachel's, but that didn't mean they weren't dangerous in their own right.

"Whatever," Santana muttered, grabbing Mike's hand and started dragging him to a seat that was as far away from Quinn and I as possible. Mike sent me an apologetic shrug, but I smiled at him to let him know that we were still cool. I completely understood; Santana gave it up to him, so he needed to stay on her good side if he wanted to get laid.

"I'll just go sit by Mercedes," Quinn muttered over the chatter of the other people in the audience. I nodded with a frown, for once I noticed that I wasn't the only one having a hard time. Judging from the dark circles under Quinn's eyes, her sleep cycle was just about as messed up as mine.

"Wait, Quinn," I'd grabbed her wrist gently before I even realized I was gonna do it. She looked back at me with a questioning raised brow. "Fuck, I know you're as…That you could use someone that knows how you're feeling or whatever, so come sit next to me."

Quinn's eyes landed on Finn and Rachel, who were sitting next to Miss. Pillsbury, both of them still acting like we didn't exist. "What about…"

"I'm not gonna dry hump you right here," I smirked, ignoring the fact that she didn't exactly look reassured, "I'm just asking you to sit next to me. So sit down, shut up and let's watch this shit until we can go up there and rock everybody's world."

Quinn smiled a little and tentatively sat down next to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Finn glancing over at us and I decided to act less like a douche and more like the mature guy that Rachel saw and didn't touch Quinn at all. But then again, it wasn't like I was even tempted to do anything in the first place…

I nodded mutely over at him and to my satisfaction, I wasn't ignored. In fact, I swear I could see something like guilt flash through Finn's eyes before he blinked and turned his attention to the stage where those hottie criminal gals started singing.

Then most of my personal issues flew out my mind for a while, when I recognized the song that they were belting out. Like Quinn did, I quickly turned my head and looked over at a silently fuming Mercedes, who was being assured by Rachel. I had a bad feeling about this and the feeling intensified a few moments later, when the chicks started rolling around in fucking wheelchairs singing the song, we'd worked so hard on with Artie.

I clenched my fists, ready to punish whoever was responsible, when Rachel's demand to meet her in the green room diverted my anger for a second. We all rushed after her, despite her growing belly, she was still a fast little fucker.

What happened next was pretty surreal, and my mind had trouble keeping up. Somehow Finn managed to come up with a song, I was seriously impressed that he could pull something like that out of his ass, 'cause let's face it, the guy ain't exactly a fountain of wisdom on the best of days. Rachel was unanimously selected to sing her heart out of a Barbra Streisand song and somehow we all ended up delivering a very kick ass performance.

As we all stood waiting outside of the judge's room or whatever it was called, I noticed that Rachel was more quiet than usual and I kept sending her probing looks. Other than seeming a little more tired than she normally did, she seemed fine, so I buried my concern in the back of my mind, knowing full well that she wouldn't appreciate my meddling.

After we'd won (see, I told you we were kick ass), we all went out to dinner before going back to our rooms to sleep. Miss Pillsbury led us up to our rooms and told us to behave. She reminded us in her own gentle way that we needed to be downstairs in the parking lot early next morning before she quickly left, no doubt to cleanse her room extensively before she could even think about going to sleep.

I was rooming with Matt and Mike, so they disappeared over to Brittany and Santana's room pretty quick, leaving me alone, something I was pretty happy about. Yeah, I was stoked that we'd won the competition and all, but now that the adrenalin rush was ebbing out of me, my real life was coming back to the forefront of my mind and I was exhausted. I didn't even take off anything but my shirt before blissful sleep overtook me.

"Puck! Wake up already!"

Once more, I was abruptly brought back to reality and I sat up blinking in the sharp light. A quick glance out the window told me that it was still in the middle of the night, so why the hell was I being interrupted now that I finally managed to sleep without dreaming.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I looked up at Quinn with an angry scowl on my face. Seriously, like we weren't in enough trouble, she just had to show up in my hotel room in a nightgown in the middle of the night. Not a good idea.

"Puck, there's something wrong with Rachel." Concern was rolling off of the blonde girl, I'd used to idolize and I immediately woke up completely.

Mere seconds after that, I was practically carrying Quinn to her room in my desperation to get to Rachel as soon as possible. We must have made some kind of noise, because suddenly there was Finn and he looked pissed at seeing us together, me half naked and Quinn wearing nothing but her nightclothes.

"I knew it!" he exclaimed, puffing up in anger and stepping in front of me. I didn't even think, I punched him in the face, knocking him on his ass in two seconds flat and then continued on. I disregarded Quinn's angry shout and then finally, I arrived to my destination.

The first thing I saw was Mercedes, she was standing in front of a closed door that had to be the bathroom. "Where is she?" I barked and released Quinn.

Mercedes was looking pale; she was wringing her hands together in worry. "She locked herself in the bathroom after Quinn left, I think something's wrong. Look." She pointed to one of the beds and I swear my heart fucking stopped.

There were bloodstains on the sheets. I don't think I've ever moved as fast as I did next. I was by the door, and I knocked quickly.

Her voice was hoarse, and it was clear that she was crying, "Go away, Mercedes. I just need a minute."

"It's me," I told her and continued softly, not giving a shit that there were others around me and that my badass reputation was going down the drain, "please open the door Rachel. Come on; don't make me knock it down."

I heard her move around and then the lock clicked open and I was inside with her. My eyes widened and my heart skipped another beat in fear when I took in her appearance. She was bleeding a lot more than I'd first thought and I ran over to her, taking her in my arms.

All her anger was now fear and she was shivering and sobbing. "I don't want to lose our baby, Noah," she kept muttering into my neck and I swallowed harshly.

"It ain't gonna go down like this," I guaranteed to the best of my abilities, "I'm gonna get you to the hospital, okay?"

I could hear shouting in the room, and knew that Finn had come after us, no doubt to let me know what a dick he thought I was and that our friendship was definitely over, but I couldn't care less at the moment. I opened the door and walked out into the room with Rachel firmly in my arms.

Everybody stopped talking as soon as they saw the state Rachel was truly in and then everything erupted into chaos. Mercedes and Quinn flanked us and Quinn was carrying a bag so I knew she'd packed some fresh clothes for Rachel and Finn, who was still bleeding himself from my punch, ran to Miss Pillsbury's room and after a few minutes (that felt like forever to me and I bet Rachel too) we were on our way to the nearest hospital.

When we arrived, Rachel wouldn't let go of me at first, still whispering in my ear that she was scared of losing our child and my heart was aching for her when the doctors and nurses finally separated her from me.

I was on my knees, my hands in my 'hawk as I tried to battle my own fears. Please don't take my kid away from me; I prayed harder than I'd ever prayed before. Please make sure Rachel isn't hurt. Please, just give us a fucking break!

"Shh, Man," Finn's voice washed over me and I looked up at his still bloodied face. Evidently, I'd been praying out loud. "Everything's gonna be fine," he added, his earlier anger and disappointment was gone and I had my best friend back and that broke my resolve. I acted like a fucking pussy and broke down into his shoulder, just happy that I could break down, if only for a little bit.

But not even that brief moment of relief was enough to stop me from praying for a miracle with more sincerity than I'd ever done before.

Please let my kid be okay…please!

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"Don't you ever fucking do that to me again, all right?" I was sitting next to Rachel's bed, looking at her peacefully sleeping form.

It was the first time that I'd gotten to see her since the nurses practically had to peel her off me to get her checked out.

She hadn't lost the baby; I was actually amazed, how relieved that made me. Already that kid had wedged its way into my heart and I knew it'd downright hurt me to lose it.

I looked down at Rachel's sleeping form and marveled in how much that tiny woman had come to mean to me too, it was fucking unbelievable that only months before I'd still been chucking Slushies at her whenever I had the chance.

The memory of her petrified and pleading look as they'd dragged her away from me kept flashing in my mind and I could still feel the faint tremors of adrenaline running through me that I just couldn't seem to put an end to. I'd been so fucking scared.

"Puck?"

I turned my head briefly to acknowledge Miss Pillsbury's soft voice and she continued, "You should go to the hotel and get some sleep. We're heading home in a few hours and-"

"If you think I'm leaving her here all alone, you're crazier than I thought," I barked out, my voice hoarse from the sobbing I'd done earlier. Then I spotted the hint of hurt that flew over Miss Pillsbury's face and I sighed, running a hand over my face before once again taking Rachel's immobile hand in my own.

"I'm sorry, I know you mean well, but I'm not leaving until she wakes up. I'm not letting her wake up and feel alone, okay?" Fuck, I could feel the burning in my eyes that signaled more tears and I angrily blinked them away; I'd acted like a wimp enough already.

"I understand," Miss Pillsbury smiled gently and daintily planted herself on the empty chair next to me. "I had to try at least. To be honest, I knew you'd want to stay here. I've called Wi- Mr. Shuester and he's agreed to come and make sure the other kids get home safely with me. The rest of the kids are all pretty shocked and worried and I think his presence will help. Also, Rachel's parents are on their way, so perhaps you can get transportation home with them?"

I just nodded, a big part of me just wanted to tell her to leave me and Rachel the hell alone. I wanted to just sit and watch her quietly; absorbing the fact that she wouldn't lose our child and more importantly, her life.

Fortunately, it was like Miss Pillsbury caught on to my desires, 'cause within ten minutes, she silently left, wishing me a good night.

How long I sat there, waiting for Rachel to wake up, I have no idea. My mind kept playing different scenarios from some of those stories my ma had shared with me over the years from her job as a nurse. A lot of shit could go wrong with pregnant chicks.

Realistically, I knew that Rachel was just sleeping heavily; apparently, she'd thrown a major drama fit when she'd lost sight of me and freaked out. When she'd finally calmed down, and the baby situation had been taken care of (again, Thank Fuck for that) she'd just dozed off and well, she just hadn't woken up yet.

I placed my head on the bed, still cradling her hand in mine and the next thing I knew, I heard whispered voices.

"…are right; he really does seem to care for our little girl, Abe. I guess I was wrong and let my preconceived notions of his delinquent capabilities blind me of that fact."

The deep baritone that unmistakably belonged to Abraham Berry, answered with a small chuckle, "yeah, and you just don't like the idea of our Sweetpea having sex."

"Oh hush," I finally beat back my grogginess and recognized Hiram's lighter voice, but it was like there were weights on my eyelids, 'cause I just couldn't seem to open them. I must have dozed off again, because the next thing I knew, I heard Miss Pillsbury's voice.

"He's refused to leave her side. He's exhausted, but if you want, I can wake him up and take him back to the hotel with me, so you can get some time alone with your daughter."

I almost sat up with a snarl, refusing to leave, but somewhere inside of me there was still a speck of self-preservation and I kept silent. Luckily, I didn't have to worry, because Abraham spoke after a few seconds, and to my shock, I suddenly felt his hand caress my head gently in a fatherly show of affection.

"No, that's okay. He looks like he's had it rough these past couple of days; I'm glad that whatever went on between them hasn't stopped him from caring about my little girl."

I heard a snort, and Abraham once again defended me, "You can't deny it Hiram. Ignore it all you want, but Noah isn't a completely bad guy."

The mix of my own exhaustion and Abe's soft touch sent me over the edge again, and before long I was asleep once more.

0o0o0

When I woke up, it was because I felt someone put their fingers through my 'hawk; I immediately recognized the touch as being Rachel's and opened my eyes quickly. She looked a lot more like herself now; the sleep had definitely helped her in more ways than one.

"Hey," I greeted silently, as I could feel my earlier fears come rushing back. Would her anger return to her now that all was okay with the baby?

"Hi," her voice was softer than I'd ever heard and I swallowed loudly, my heart hammering harshly in my chest.

"My dads' just left to get a doctor so I can go home. I'd very much like it, if you'd accompany us."

"You don't hate me anymore?" Damn, who knew I could sound so insecure? It really wasn't a good day for the Puckerone's badass reputation.

Rachel's lip quirked upwards for a split second and she removed her hand, folding it with her other on her (fortunately) still swollen belly. "I don't hate you, Noah. I never did, but I must admit that finding out that our child might have a slightly older half-sibling the way I did, was not something that I particularly enjoyed." Then she seemed to notice my goofy-happy expression, and her brow furrowed in bemusement. "What?"

"You called me Noah," I smiled, no longer giving a shit about that badass rep that I was supposed to uphold. Fuck, it felt good to be 'Noah' to her again.

Rachel's smile was small, but so beautiful that I wanted to beg her to never stop smiling. "That is your name, isn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah it is." I took a shot and leaned forward and planted a quick, chaste kiss on her lips.

Our moment was interrupted by Hiram, who came in with a fellow doctor trailing behind him. And I finally learned what had happened to our kid.

Apparently, it wasn't that uncommon for pregnant girls to suddenly start to bleed excessively without it hurting the baby in the womb. Rachel and I shared a look of relief at that. The doctor did suggest that we all limited the stress in Rachel's day to day life and that she should take it easy for a little while before resuming her daily life.

Rachel complained a little about missing glee and her other after school activities, but for the first time, Hiram and I saw completely eye to eye on things. We looked at each other and then turned to Rachel and told her to suck it up (that was me) and enjoy the few days of tranquility before the little one's arrival (Hiram).

Rachel rolled her eyes, but she couldn't hide the amusement and I straightened up with a jaw breaking yawn. Things weren't perfect between us, and we still had a shitload of things to talk about, but for now, we were just enjoying the moment.

0o0o0

A few days later, I was walking next to Rachel as she went back to school after her hospital visit. She was chatting happily about the things she and her dads' had been doing after I'd left last night. I smiled to myself, she kept hinting that she knew the sex of the baby now, and that no matter how much I begged I wouldn't get to know, it was, and I quote, "my chance to experience surprise like she had with the whole Quinn situation, albeit with a much more pleasant end."

What Rachel didn't know, was that I totally didn't care if we had a son or a daughter. I just rejoiced in the fact that the kid was still around, safely entombed in her belly. I had a sneaking suspicion that my lack of interest would crack my crazy Berry much faster than any begging would.

I spotted Azimo and Karofsky and some dweeb freshman jock, called Johnson, walk towards us, all of them armed with a slushie. I started glowering, I'd fucking kill them if they even as much as thought about pouring the iced beverages over Rachel.

I was aware that Rachel stopped talking; she probably followed my line of sight. I instinctively walked in front of her, just in case. But that was all shot to hell, when Rachel practically danced around me and walked up to the trio of bullies all by her lonesome.

"Uhm, those look delicious, thank you, guys." Then she proceeded to snatch out the grape flavored one from Azimo's frozen hands and chug the entire thing like a fucking champion. Having drained the first one, Rachel grabbed the one in Karofsky's hand before belching loudly and starting over.

It was the sexiest thing, I'd ever seen.

Then Rachel took it a step further, all the while still looking calm and collected, and looked around and then she fucking beckoned a silently watching Quinn over. "Oh you simply must try this, I honestly thought that my taste for these was gone due to the impact they've had on my life these last few years, but they taste splendidly. Do you want one?"

Rachel unceremoniously took the last one from Johnson's beefy hands and handed it to Quinn. "I doubt these guys would've used them appropriately anyway and this way they're actually doing some good. You don't mind, do you? I'm very happy to see your willingness to assist two pregnant women, it speaks well of your character and I'm truly glad to see you're not the brutes I thought you to be all this time," she turned her big, chocolate colored orbs towards the still unmoving trio, and I briefly had a flash of that cat from Shrek crushing his enemies with one look of his big eyes. It was kindda having the same effect.

Azimo shrugged uncomfortably, Johnson nodded slowly and Karofsky fucking smiled; all soft and shit. I had no doubt that their days as slushie throwers at Rachel and Quinn was over.

"Reeeespect," I heard Kurt whisper somewhere behind me and I couldn't agree more.

Later that day, when I strolled into glee club with Mike and Matt, the first thing I saw, was Rachel and Quinn sitting in the corner seats, talking quietly with serious looks on their faces. Looking around, I noticed that Finn was eying them with curiosity and, when his eyes landed on Quinn, with no small amount of longing.

Taking a deep breath, I walked over to the empty seat next to him and sat down without a word. He'd been there for me the night I thought my world was ending, but we hadn't really spoken since. His face still showed signs of my punch; he had two black eyes that were fading and a slightly puffy nose. I briefly congratulated myself on my awesome strength, before turning to him.

"I'm not a good person," Finn looked at me like Rachel's crazy had seeped into me somehow and I quickly continued, "I shouldn't have touched your girl and I'm really sorry that we're in this fucked up situation now. For what it's worth, I wish I could take it all back, Man."

Finn nodded silently, but wasn't given a chance to respond, before Mr. Shue came in and started babbling about telephones and some old dead dude speaking like a drunken sailor or something.

When class ended, I hung around, kindda hoping that Finn would stay back to talk, but he left quickly, looking a bit pale and just plain tired. I guess he had some stuff to work through before we could get back what we had pre Quinn.

Grimacing, I realized just how much of a chick I sounded, even inside of my own head and I quickly started eyeing Rachel's boobs, just to, you know, get some of my Man Cards back.

"Puck," I shook off my thoughts and turned my focus to Quinn. She smiled half-heartedly at me; looking a lot like Finn in regards to tiredness, and continued, "Rachel and I were talking about…" she trailed off and looked down at her own swollen belly.

"Yeah," I nodded, looking over at Rachel, who was sitting in her seat and talking to Kurt and Mercedes.

"Well, I asked her if we should get a paternity test done, but she wouldn't even consider it. At least, not until the baby's born," Quinn added with a smaller, more sincere smile, "evidently she's read a lot about these tests and the danger they can pose to the pregnancy or something. I didn't catch everything to be honest, but she suggested that, if I still wanted to, I could get it done once the baby's born."

"And you're telling me this because…?" I crossed my arms, glancing over at Rachel, making sure that the day hadn't tired her out to much.

"Because, Doofus," Quinn's old bitchiness had returned a bit and I couldn't contain a smirk, "once I've given birth, we could get the test done and you and Rachel will know if your kid will have a half-sister."

"You're having a girl?" I smiled, genuinely happy for her and she returned the grin after a beat of hesitation.

Quinn nodded and then frowned. "I just really want to know. It all kindda depends on this."

"What?"

"Finn and I were gonna keep her, but now, I'm not so sure. I can't do this all by myself," Quinn's blue eyes teared up and I awkwardly patted her shoulder.

"If the kid is mine, I'll help you in any way that I can."

"I know," Quinn looked back at Rachel, who was now watching us keenly, not paying attention to whatever it was that Kurt and Mercedes were gesturing wildly about. "She told me you'd say that. I'm happy that you're still together; it's nice that something good came out of all of the drama that night."

I couldn't have agreed more, but I managed to stay quiet, sensing that the blonde in front of me wasn't quite done talking.

"She's still mad at us. Nowhere near what she once was, but she said that she would work through it and come out on top or something profound like that that I didn't understand completely. She's really a lot nicer than I ever thought. You're one lucky guy, Puckerman."

I grinned, happy that I wasn't the only one knowing that anymore. Hell, if I had it my way, I'd force people to come up to Rachel and tell her that she was kickass, to counteract all the times that people had come up to her to say that she sucked or something hurtful like that.

"And now," Quinn's voice brought me back to reality, "I think you should take our team captain home; it's been a long day and she needs to take it easy." My gaze instantly sought out Rachel and I couldn't help the rush of fear that ran through every cell in my body. Had she been through too much today? The doctors all said that she needed to take it easy for a while. Should I carry her out to my truck so she didn't have to walk anymore? I'd totally do it too, no matter how much I knew she'd object.

"I'll see you later tonight, okay."

"Wait, what?" I frowned, tearing my concerned eyes away from Rachel, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Quinn sent me a smile so full of wickedness that I felt the hairs in the back of my neck stand on end. "Oh, I couldn't keep living with Finn and his mom after everything and I'm still pretty sure my father would send the cops after me if I showed up on their doorstep, so Rachel invited me to stay with her. I'm just going with Kurt and Mercedes to get my stuff and then I'll go back to the Berry house, living with Rachel."

She called out to Mercedes and Kurt and walked away and all I could think was that I would basically be around, not one, but two scary ass pregnant chicks everyday from now on.

"I'm fucking doomed," I whispered, trying not to freak out completely.

"Oh, relax Noah, don't be so dramatic," Rachel stepped up next to me, her smile eerily similar to Quinn's and I didn't care how much of a pussy it made me, I just couldn't suppress the flinch this time around.

Fucking doomed…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"Okay, why the fuck is Madonna blaring through the entire school? My ears are fucking bleeding and I'm way too hot to feel this shitty in the morning. " I groaned, making my way over to Rachel, who was standing by her locker with Quinn.

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Your vocabulary is especially appalling in the mornings, Noah, have anyone ever told you that?"

"Yeah," I bent down and kissed her on the cheek she offered me, "you have. More than once too."

Rachel giggled, and I had to turn around to adjust myself, 'cause seriously, when she does that it's like a direct line to my dick. Although, now that I think about it, most of what Rachel does makes me hard as rock so it wasn't really a surprise.

"Okay, you two lovebirds," Quinn rolled her eyes as she lifted her bag up from the floor, "we've got class in five minutes and I need to get some orange juice from the vending machine or I'm gonna behave in a way that no one but me will find appropriate."

I watched her walk away in silence for a few seconds, taking the time to glare viciously to some of the other students that rammed into her and didn't even apologize. I was an asshole most of the time, but even I wouldn't treat a pregnant girl like that.

After she disappeared from view, I turned back to look at Rachel and saw to my surprise that she was staring at me with this strange look in her eyes.

"What?" I asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable when she still didn't speak.

"Nothing," she replied, weaving her arm in to mine as I took her books and mixed them with my own. "I guess, I just felt a little jealous for a second, but it's over now."

Rachel sent me one of her performance smiles that I hated so much when it was aimed at me, 'cause it usually meant she was lying through her teeth.

"Don't be," I muttered, and opened the door to the class we shared to let her enter first. In the back of my mind I was pretty fucking joyous that my screwing up and somehow letting Jacob ruin things for me hadn't killed whatever it was that she was feeling for me. I caught Rachel looking at me with a questioningly raised eyebrow and I elaborated, "You're the only one I want."

Fuck me; I'm turning into a grade A pussy here. I mentally rolled my eyes, while simultaneously promising myself to start my Jacob hunting that day to build up some of my kickass manliness again; even if, I gotta admit that the now sincerely beaming smile that Rachel sent me, was doing weird (but pleasant) things to me as we took our seats.

After I'd walked Rachel to her next class and made sure that she wasn't being hassled by anyone or doing anything other than just sitting there and taking notes calmly, like the doctors had told her too, I finally allowed myself the luxury of letting an evil smirk pass my lips, 'cause it was so on. The hunt for Jacob Ben Ishrael, I mean. That dude seriously needed a lesson in remembering that he was nothing more than a fucking dweeb.

Okay, I know I've taken a lot of steps to stop being the bully of McKinley High; I didn't even really like it the last few times I did anything bully related. But, for Jacob, I'd damn well enjoy it. The fucker deserved it.

Just to play it safe though, I hadn't told Rachel what I was planning, 'cause I had a feeling that she wouldn't feel the same way no matter how much pain his stupid nosiness had caused her.

It took me a little while, but finally I managed to get a hold of the curly haired Jew that had caused me and mine so much trouble. He was sitting in the library over in the corner, typing away frantically and I looked around to make sure no one was watching, before I strolled over to him and slung my arm around his shoulders. I might have squeezed his neck a bit hard with my arm, just a little bit anyway.

"Hi Jewfro," I greeted amiably, making sure that my eyes told him exactly what I had planned, despite my friendly tone of voice.

Apparently, I hadn't quite lost my edge, 'cause the blog obsessed idiot whimpered. Seriously, he whimpered like a mortally wounded animal or something. I briefly looked down at him to make sure he hadn't pissed his pants.

Satisfied that his pants seemed dry, I grabbed his collar and dragged him to his feet. "Now, let's take a little walk. I have some things to talk with you about."

About an hour later, I was at Rachel's class, waiting for her to exit so we could go to glee together. She took one look at my no doubt smug looking mug and crossed her arms. "What did you do?"

"What the hell, Girl," I exclaimed, not able to keep a quick laugh from escaping, "do you have some kind of psychic hotline wired at my awesome self? How do you just know shit like that?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and shrugged a bit, which caused my attention to waver towards her boobs for a second, but her voice managed to catch my attention again. "I do believe that I've told you on numerous occasions that I have this sixth sense when it comes to you. And to be perfectly honest, the look on your face reminds me of the one you used to wear whenever you successfully slushied me. So, in conclusion to your query, that makes it rather obvious that you've been involved in some kind of deviant behavior…"

The moment Rachel brought up our conflict filled past, I felt a rush of old guilt wash over me, but I didn't get a chance to apologize again (something, I just couldn't stop doing these days apparently), before I noticed an uncharacteristic hesitation in Rachel's otherwise beautiful eyes and she spoke again, although at a much quieter level this time around.

"…I'm hoping that whatever has transpired, it wasn't anything of the sexual nature…right?"

My immediate reaction was to go on the defensive. How the fuck did she think it made me feel that she evidently thought of me as a cheating scumbag without any proof? But then reality kicked in and the more observant part of my brain pointed out that the girl in front of me wasn't trying to make me feel bad; she was just insecure.

And judging from the slightly quivering lips, and the way she didn't meet my gaze told me that Rachel's confidence was blown to shit – and I'm betting her finding out that I banged Quinn hadn't exactly helped matters in that aspect.

Sighing, I beat down that dark part of me that wanted to lash out and stepped closer to her. "Rach," I murmured, not interested in having the other students around us listening in, "I know we never really talked all that much about everything but trust me on this; I ain't cheating on you, the thought didn't even cross my mind, Babe."

Rachel nodded; still not looking anywhere near me and I gently took hold of her cheeks with my hands and lifted her face so she couldn't help but look at me. "I'm not exactly great at this talking thing; half the time I end up pissing people off even more when I do try, but I promise you that I'll regret a lot of things in my life, I know that. But I also know that you being with me aren't even on that list. In fact, you're on the other list; you know, the one where all the things I'm fucking thrilled about are on. At the very top, 'kay?"

We looked at each other for what seemed like forever, hell, I was so caught up in this chick flick moment, my thumbs even started caressing Rachel's smooth cheeks and I didn't even fucking care.

"You're wrong, Noah," Rachel finally sent me a small smile, her eyes no longer shining with insecurities, but with happiness, if I interpreted it correctly, "you're really good at this talking thing. Thank you." She let out a breathy laugh and discreetly wiped her eyes and pecked me on the cheek before taking a step backwards to take a hold of her trolley.

Smiling thankfully when I took it from her, she asked, "so, to get back to the matter at hand. What, pray tell, is it that you've been up to, Noah?"

Shit, I'd completely forgotten about my revenge on Jacob after the little moment, I'd shared with Rachel and I grinned with satisfaction. "Well, you're not gonna be happy about it, but-"

I didn't get another word out, before the entire hallway froze as a pitiful scream sounded and the students parted ways like the water at the Red Sea to reveal an underwear wearing Jacob, who was stumbling down the hall. Beside me, I heard Rachel squeak as she no doubt tried to hold in her laughter. I didn't bother, 'cause the sight in front of me was fucking epic if you ask me.

Not only was the chubby Jew nearly naked in front of everybody. His entire body was covered in what I knew to be superglue and feathers and…other stuff that shall remain nameless. But that's not even the best part. The crowning touch so to speak was the Mohawk the normally so frizzy haired blogger was now sporting.

When Jacob came closer and noticed me, he wailed and turned right around and fled in another direction. Oh, yeah – I was good.

"Noah Puckerman!"

And, apparently, I was in the doghouse too. Turning around, I was met with Rachel's frowning face. I tried to look as innocent as possible, but it wasn't working as well as it usually did. Maybe if I flexed my muscles a bit? It always worked wonders when chicks flexed their stuff for me…Specially their boobs.

"Are you not the least bit concerned that he'll press charges or something along those lines?" Rachel admonished me, "I really do not have any intentions of going through something so stressful at this point in time."

Shit, all my barely concealed fears for her and the baby kicked back in and I quickly placed my hands on her belly. "Is everything okay in there? I didn't want to make you worry – the asshole just needed to be taken down a peg or two, that's all."

"Noah," Rachel sighed. "I honestly don't know what to do with you. But, for what it's worth, he did look delightfully hideous."

"Yeah that was cool, wasn't it?" I couldn't help but smirk and Rachel rolled her eyes, took my hand in hers and led the way to the choir room where, as usual the gossip mongers were already deeply involved in spreading the news of Jacob's misfortune. I knew from the gleeful look on most of the people's faces, including the ever silent piano player, Brad, that they weren't feeling the least bit sorry for my latest victim.

Not surprisingly, neither was I – although, I inwardly promised myself to send the guy a text with the best tip on removing the smell from his body later…or, maybe that night before I went to bed or tomorrow before school at the latest, we'd see how my night went first before I made any definite decisions.

Mr. Shue came in with a big smile on his face and gestured for us to take our seats. He even patiently listened to Rachel for a few minutes, as she went over some suggestions for Regional's. I sent him a grateful look. He'd been showing a bit more patience and care towards Rachel since her hospitalization, and I couldn't help but like the dude a bit better for it.

The rest of the day went by quickly. Mr. Shue forced us into a Madonna themed thing that kindda made my good feelings about the guy disappear as quickly as they'd arrived, 'cause come on. Madonna might be a hall of fame MILF, but I was a man's man and I didn't really wanna belt out any of her songs. No fucking way.

I did enjoy the girl's rendition of one of the songs though; Rachel in particular looked awesome in her red corset that almost hid the baby bump as she stomped around looking sexy as hell. Not even Santana's sultry looks interested me in the least.

But, for once, I don't think she noticed my lack of notice or whatever it's called. Instead, I saw that she was sending her best 'come hither' look at Finn, a lot more than she usually did and I also spotted that he was a lot more in to those looks than normally. I had a bad feeling about that, but pushed it aside, 'cause the next thing I knew, I was practically carrying Rachel to my truck to drive her home, a bit scared that she might have overexerted herself during her performance.

Things were fine though, and I even managed to share a quick meal with her and her dads'. Hiram had begun to loosen up around me after he'd witnessed how I reacted when his daughter was ill and the tension wasn't as bad as it used to be. Even Abraham was acting more carefree towards me again. I guess, seeing Rachel smile and giggle with Hiram, made up for those awful days where she'd been moping around because of me. He still made sure to send me these looks when no one was watching us that clearly stated that if I ever hurt his little girl again, he'd turn into any teenage guy's worst nightmare.

And in the middle of the meal, Quinn came home from whatever it was she'd been doing after school and joined in the fun like she'd practically lived with the Berry family for years instead of days. It was pretty cool actually.

The only thing that I felt was missing, was my six plus feet tall best friend, who would've made everything just a tiny bit more fun. The soft sighs and sad looks I sometimes caught Quinn in, told me that she was feeling the same thing.

Aside from that, the evening was a success. Rachel walked me to the door and hugged me goodbye and I took a deep breath of her smell, enjoying her laugh when she caught me doing it.

When I finally went home that night, I was in such a good mood, I even sent Jacob a text as I'd promised myself earlier before I went to bed.

Whoever said I couldn't play nice, huh?

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The next couple of days went pretty well. Of course I was pretty much working a full time job when it came to picking up things for Rachel and Quinn. Stuff that they supposedly, and I quote, "couldn't live without."

Hell, one night, they woke me up in the middle of the night and demanded that I bring them something from the local 7/11 store. When I refused, Quinn got into major bitch mode and Rachel started blubbering on the phone while muttering something about never having sex with me again.

Thirty minutes later, I was at the Berry house, and when I knocked, Abraham opened the door. I swear I fucking gulped with nerves, when he squinted at me, looking about as tired as I felt. I was sure that he'd kick my ass for disturbing him, but then he just groaned and stepped aside.

"You can sleep on the couch; I'll give them whatever it is that they've decided they're unable to live without tonight."

The words were hauntingly familiar and I couldn't help but ask, "you too?"

Abraham smiled as he rummaged through a closet to find a blanket and a pillow for me. "Yeah. I love my little girl and Quinn is sweet too, but lately I'm beginning to feel like they've both been possessed by something quite dark."

"I hear ya," I yawned and nodded my thanks when he handed over the blanket and pillow. I in return gave him the bag of snacks I'd been ordered to procure. I was asleep on the couch before I even noticed that Rachel's dad was gone.

The morning after, Rachel came down and almost smothered me with affection, apologizing for her irrational behavior and all was back to normal. Quinn kept sending me glares though, as she munched on a bag of Doritos and a cut up banana. Fucking gross to be honest.

I parted ways with the girls after I'd walked them to their first class of the day. I didn't share it with them, I mean, come on, it was an AP class, so what do you think? When gym rolled around, me and the guys just goofed around. Coach Tanaka was too busy slobbering down a huge sandwich and basically grossing everyone out to pay us any attention and you know, actually do his job.

After I'd showered and was in the middle of putting my clothes on, I happened to look over at Finn; I instantly whipped my head away, 'cause no straight dude wants to be caught looking at another guy in the locker room – or anywhere else for that matter.

Then I frowned and snuck another quick look, 'cause there was definitely something different about Finn. A few seconds later, I realized what it was and cursed quietly. I knew what I was about to do could stir up a whole lot of additional problems between us.

Straightening myself up to my full height, I called out for Finn's attention. He and I were nowhere near back to normal yet, but after I'd punched his lights out, he'd behaved a bit calmer, so I decided to risk it by pointing out what I'd seen.

"That's some major scratches you've got there," I drawled, and continued, "I'd say you need to get another cat if it scratches your back like that, but we both know you don't own one."

Finn looked uncomfortable, quickly pulling his T-shirt over his head. "What's your point?"

"Well," I ran a hand through my 'hawk and waited until Finn was actually looking at me before I continued, "I just thought those marks look pretty familiar. You wanna know why? Because I've had the same marks myself once or twice…" I took a deep breath, nonchalantly stepping out of Finn's reach, just in case. "Santana can be a regular wildcat in the sack."

Finn didn't throw any punches, or go all defensive as I'd anticipated; no, instead, he paled and sat down hard on the bench in front of his locker. When he looked up at me, he had this guilty, tortured look on his face and I felt bad for the guy.

"I was just so mad at her," he started, I tried to stop him, reminding him that he didn't owe me any explanations, but he just kept going, it was almost as if he'd been waiting for someone to confide in.

"I've been feeling like crap lately because of everything with Quinn and you and then Santana was suddenly all over me, making me feel wanted and I don't even know how it happened, Puck, but I felt so bad afterwards. It was nothing like the time I was with Quinn. I feel so guilty, but I shouldn't feel like that, 'cause I'm not the one who's done something wrong here. And on top of that I feel awful for feeling that Santana is nothing compared to Quinn and I'm so tired of all of it. I don't wanna go around and be angry anymore, but every time I see Quinn or you, I just wanna scream at you."

I sat down next to the guy; I'd once considered my best friend, before I'd betrayed him in the worst way possible. I'd been so busy apologizing to Rachel; I'd sort of neglected doing the same to Finn. "Look Man," I sighed, "feel free to vent your anger on me. Hell, I'll even let you take a shot at me again, if you feel like it. Just don't make Quinn miserable. She's already going through a lot of shit and if she finds out about this mess with Santana, I don't know what's gonna go down."

We sat together for a few minutes without speaking. Finn finally broke the silence, "I'm still mad at you and her." I nodded, but he kept going without looking at me, "but I just miss the way things used to be. I was excited about the baby and now it's just all gone to hell. And as for you and me; it's gonna take a while, but you're still my best friend."

I was a bit surprised at the relief that flooded through my system at his words; who knew his forgiveness would mean so much to me? Shaking off the girly emotions, I smiled, punching him in the shoulder. "Good to know, Man. Now, did you hear that Jacob actually stumbled into Miss Pillsbury's office, covered in all the shit I'd put on him?"

Finn let out a belly laugh and nodded, looking like his old goofy self for a second. "Yeah, I heard Miss Sylvester mock her about the five decontamination showers she'd gone through after he'd cried on her."

For a little while, Finn and I just hung out, until the bell rang and I had to go because I'd promised Rachel I'd try and snag her a few snacks from the cafeteria before glee.

I was late for glee, because as I was walking back from the cafeteria, packed with food and soft drinks as my hot pregnant Jewess had demanded, I ran into one of the other student's mothers, who just happened to once have been one of my most eager clients in my pool cleaning business.

Evidently, she'd been at the school to apply for a job of some kind, when she'd spotted me and then she'd decided to try to get a repeat performance out of me. She was tenacious horny bitch, I'll give you that. No matter how many times I told her I wasn't available, she kept running her fake nails up and down my guns. If I hadn't been carrying Rachel's precious food, I'd have slapped her hands off of me.

As it were, I had to resort to the only thing I had left, so I told her, I'd squeal on our previous arrangement, if she didn't get the fuck away from me as soon as possible.

It worked like a fucking charm, nothing like the threat of statuary rape to cool unwanted advances. But the bottom line of all of this is that I was late for glee club, so that's why I looked like a bumbling moron the first time I laid eyes on a certain Jesse St. James.

Mr. Shue was standing in front of the rest of the gang with this semi tall, gangly dude with curls to rival his own. I caught the end question from a disgruntled looking Brittany, "Mr. Shue, is he your son?" I didn't hear the answer, because in that moment, I tripped. I fucking tripped, all right. Using all my speed, I tried catching the bag of snacks that I've gone through so much to get. I almost fell flat on my face, but I managed to grab the damn thing and straighten up, trying to play it cool.

The mocking look the newcomer sent me informed me that I had been unsuccessful. Fuck that, I thought and made my way calmly over to Rachel and handed her the bag. She didn't even look at me as she thanked me with an air of distraction about her.

Mr. Shue coughed once, waiting for me to settle down I think, before he looked at me. "Puck, this is our new member, Jesse St. James. He's just moved to the district and used to be the star of Vocal Adrenaline and he's very interested in joining New Directions."

I didn't care; I just kept looking at Rachel, a bit confused over her behavior. I kept watching as she didn't tear her eyes away from that Jesse St. Douche dude, while some of the other Gleeks bitched and moaned over the new arrival or some shit I wasn't really paying attention to.

It soon became very clear to me that Jesse was an ass. I couldn't stand the pretty boy; he acted like he was better than everyone and came with suggestions and ideas to change everything. He was kind of like Rachel like that, but not in a cute way.

And Rachel's behavior towards him wasn't exactly making me like him more either. Seriously, she acted like he was an internationally known Broadway star, when in fact he was just this unoriginal senior with a superiority complex and pansy ass curls.

We had just finished doing the last Madonna song of the week, Shuester had even invited the local gospel choir to join in and it would've been an amazing experience, if I hadn't been forced to stand by like a loser and watch Jesse be Rachel's partner in the number.

It was driving me nuts to see her hanging of his every word, and I honestly wasn't used to feeling so possessive and it made me wanna kick some ass.

I finally snapped a few days later, when I was driving Rachel home from one of her other afterschool clubs that I couldn't even begin to understand how she found the time for, and realized that Jesse had joined said club, which was apparently just splendid and something that she really wanted to talk to me about. Over and over again.

I pulled up to her house and didn't get out to open the door for her, or follow her inside, like I'd done every day since she'd come home from the hospital. It took a few minutes before Rachel noticed that I was just sitting there and waiting for her to leave. She finally stopped talking about all the great things that Jesse had been doing during the club meeting and turned to me with a bemused frown on her face.

"What's wrong Noah? We really cannot be sitting here all day; haven't you been listening? I need to go shower and try that exercise that Jesse told me and Quinn about today that could help with-"

"Stop Berry," I more or less growled out the demand and slowly took some deep breaths, hoping to calm my anger and my jealousy before I did or said something that would ruin all the progress I'd made recently. "Just stop, okay."

Rachel looked so fucking confused and endearing that I nearly groaned and pulled her into my lap to show her just how it was she was actually dating. "I'm puzzled, what is it that you want me to stop?"

"Just shut the hell up about Jesse St. Fucking James, please! Every sentence coming outta your mouth has something to do with that jackass and I can't take it anymore." Fuck, I sounded so whiny; I should just do the world a favor and blow my brains out before I turned into a full blown pussy.

"Noah," said Rachel, her voice uncharacteristically soft. I couldn't bring myself to look at her, instead keeping my gaze locked on my clenched fists that were resting in my lap. "Jesse is no more than a friend, a fellow star to be and I enjoy spending time with him, but that's all."

I shrugged and she continued. "I must admit that I think you're overreacting a little bit, Noah."

Fuck that, my almost forgotten temper roared to life and I turned to her with fire in my eyes. "Fine; I'm overreacting and acting like a total ass, but you can't really blame me here. I've been waiting on you hand and foot and I haven't complained once. Then Mr. Showoff turns up and you're practically wetting your panties every time you're around him, but no-ho, I'm the jerk for not really digging that."

Rachel gasped and seemed to wanna interrupt, but I didn't give her the chance, "no, now I'm the one talking. I get that he's way more interesting than me and you'll probably always see me as a fucking loser compared to him and that's fine. I can live with that, but just fuck, Rach, stop talking about him all the fucking time!"

I jumped out of the truck and pulled her trolley with me, placing it on the curb before walking over and effortlessly lifting Rachel out as well. I made sure she was standing securely and then I walked back to the driver's seat, got in and took off before I could humiliate myself any further.

"Fuck!" I slammed my hands into the steering wheel a few times, trying to get my anger out of my system. It didn't really do me any good, so I decided to run it out instead. I parked the truck and just started running, not giving a shit where the hell I was going.

My lungs demanded air and my legs were practically buckling under me a few hours later when I returned to my truck and drove home, dripping of sweat. During the run I'd been thinking a lot about everything. I knew I didn't really regret what I'd said to Rachel, and I also knew that things would have to change.

Pregnant or not, she wasn't the only one dealing with a lot of stuff these days. Add to that my newfound knowledge about Finn and Santana (a disaster just waiting to happen), and I was a very frustrated guy.

Jesse was just the last straw. I'd kindda figured out that it wasn't just my jealousy talking when it came to him. There was just something that didn't add up and considering that the last time I had had one of these weird feelings in my gut, Jacob had nearly broken me and Rachel up for good, I was damn well gonna trust my instinct.

I sighed and pulled into the driveway to my house and froze. Sitting on the porch was Rachel and she looked like she'd been crying. "Damn it," I muttered, grabbing my schoolbag and pulled out my cell. I had 43 missed calls and 11 messages.

Okay, so she'd probably started to worry after she didn't get a hold of me. I sighed again, knowing that I had to appease my pregnant girlfriend before I did anything else. It wasn't good for her to stress over anything.

Getting out of the truck, I quickly trotted over to Rachel, internally bemoaning a hot shower to ease my aching muscles. "Hey," I said, "why didn't you just go in?"

"I wanted to talk to you without worrying your mother," Rachel replied, following me upstairs where I immediately started donning my sweaty clothes and change into some clean sweats.

"Look, I'm sorry I went off like that," I said when, after a few minutes of awkward silence, Rachel still hadn't spoken, "I was just tired and you didn't deserve any of it."

"No," Rachel shook her head, her eyes lingering a bit on my bare chest. I smirked inwardly; The Puckerone still had it going on. "You might have said it in an abrasive manner, but you were essentially right, Noah. After you left, I started thinking about all that you've done for me since I told you of our baby."

"I wanted to do anything I could to help," I reminded her, but she just spoke over me like I hadn't said anything.

"I think that I might have been subconsciously punishing you for the whole Quinn situation; admittedly my hormones are a bit strong these days and I have several mood swings a day, something that my fathers' keep reminding me in the morning before school where I usually almost take their heads off for breathing too loudly or even just kissing me good morning."

Rachel smiled a little and sat down on my bed, fingering a corner of the blanket, "And then Jesse came into our lives and I must admit that I was flattered that he took so much interest in me. Barring you and Quinn, who's going through the same things as me, I haven't really connected all that much with my fellow glee clubbers and I've always been the unpopular one, so for the star of another glee club to take an interest in me, was just wonderful. It made me feel wanted in a whole new way."

"I've always-" I began, but Rachel once again interrupted me.

"I know that you find me attractive sexually, Noah. As I do you, but this was in regards to my talent and my dreams. Anyway, I am profoundly sorry that I made you feel bad and I apologize and promise to try and tone down my pregnancy moods as much as possible. I won't ever call you in the middle of the night to get me something to eat again."

"Babe," I crouched down in front of her, "I'm sorry for acting like a jerk. I just have a lot on my mind, which is a lame ass excuse, I know. Yeah, I felt a bit tired of the stuff I had to do for you and Quinn, but I'm happy to do them anyway. And yeah, I don't really like Jesse, I probably never will; he just rubs me the wrong way. Just, do me a favor and don't fall in love with him or anything, all right."

Rachel nodded, her eyes shining with unshed tears, but she was smiling too, so I don't think they were the wrong sort of tears. "Don't worry, Noah. That will not be a problem."

After that, we just sort of sat there and stared at each other. I decided to lighten the mood in my patented charming way, "you know, I'm gonna go take a shower, but you're more than welcome to join me. I'll scrub your back if you'll scrub mine."

Then, Rachel shocked the hell out of me by leaning forward a bit and running her tiny, warm hands over my pecks with a sultry (yeah, sultry!) smile and a hint of pure lust in her brown eyes. "I do believe I'm in need of a decent scrubbing," she whispered in my ear and I nearly came in my pants. Fuck that was hot.

I all but jumped to my feet and carried her out to the bathroom where we proceeded to put all our talking behind us and just enjoy each other. I had a primal need to see my woman come undone in my arms; something I knew Jesse wouldn't ever be allowed to as long as I was around.

And considering the love I had for the petite girl in my arms, I was gonna be around for a long time.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The next little while things settled into a comfortable rhythm for me, I only got in the doghouse once or twice – okay, once if you wanna get totally specific.

It all started the day Shuester came into the choir room looking pretty much like his favorite vest had been eaten by moths or something lame like that. Evidently the Cheerios needed the auditorium and Sue was willing to practically kill to make sure we didn't get a chance to use it. If you ask me, I think she'd have killed us all even if the stupid auditorium hadn't been an issue; that tall chick was crazy. Considering who I'm in love with, I know my crazy.

Anyway, then somehow, Mr. Shue made sure we could all hang out in the local roller rink, not giving a fuck that we all had images to maintain and…you know, weren't living in the eighties anymore.

We all went there and I couldn't stop laughing to myself when I spotted just who it was that ran the damn place; April Fucking Rhodes. Now that was a broad I would always remember fondly. Not many women stroll into a shower with three dudes and goes down on them just to make sure she's included in the glee club. Good times…

But I'm going off topic, sorry. So, we got handed these roller-skates and told to go have some fun before we would start rehearsing. I was joking, having a good time, until the very second I watched Rachel glide on to the floor with a happy smile on her face.

Instantly, my old fears for her safety roared back to life and I rolled after her and stopped her mid movement. "Don't move," I pretty much yelled, not giving a shit about the odd looks the others gave me. My whole world had dwindled into just three people, me, Rachel and our baby. "You could fall down and hurt yourself!"

Rachel rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Noah, while I once again must say that I appreciate your concern for me and our child's wellbeing, I can ease your worries easily. I've been doing this all my life, and add that to my dancing abilities I can safely say that my balance is far superior than that of anyone here's – except perhaps, Brittany's."

Brittany, who'd been twirling past us doing some wicked move just as Rachel finished speaking, stopped and smiled widely at her, "Thanks," before literally jumping in the air and spinning around like a pro. I would've been more impressed if I hadn't been in the middle of an epic stare down with Rachel.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Quinn coming to the rescue – Rachel's that is. Those two had been teaming up on me more and more often lately, and I knew I had to speak my mind before the head bitch in charge came barreling over here to lend her not wanted support.

"Look, Rach," I started to say, but then she interrupted me before I could say anything else.

"No, Noah, you look. I'm perfectly capable of handling myself here. Frankly, your caveman sensibilities are getting out of control when it comes to these things and-"

"Whatever," I shrugged, this time being the one to interrupt; "do what you want. I forgot that you always know best."

Having delivered my less than mature response, I spun around and skated down to the opposite end, where I'm pretty sure April had just tried to feel up Mike and Matt, judging from their sly grins.

I pretended that I couldn't hear Rachel calling my name and started rolling around the rink as fast as I could to get some of my aggression out physically. Mr. Shue tried getting us all to behave and stand around like a real choir, but even he knew a lost cause after a few failed attempts, so I wasn't disturbed.

Finally, after a little while, I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye and stopped when Finn's huge shadow fell over me. "Hey," I muttered breathlessly, trying not to pant like an unfit wannabe.

"Rachel sent me," Finn said instead of greeting me, apparently, he still wasn't completely ready to forgive me; not that I blamed him, but I wasn't in the mood to take any shit from him.

"Like I even fucking care," I murmured, ignoring the part of me that hated that she'd sent someone instead of coming to my side herself. "If she wanted to talk, she could've come her own damn self. So either shut up or piss off," yeah, okay, so maybe my mood was worse than I thought, but you try being around two pregnant chicks all the time and see how well you're doing after a while.

Finn seemed to get that he wasn't the one I was pissed at, 'cause he simply shook his head twice before stating, "She's sorry, you know. I heard you arguing with her and I get your concerns; I'm probably not the dad of Quinn's baby anymore, but I still want to force her to stop rolling around. She could get hurt, like you said."

"You might still be the dad," I pointed out, finally catching my breath as I straightened up completely. "Quinn's gonna get a test done after the baby's born. Talk to her about it, and you better make it soon 'cause she's talking about giving the kid up for adoption or some shit like that."

The look Finn gave me was a mix between fear, anger and reluctant understanding and we shared a smile, both of us taking one step closer to being best friends again.

A moment later, my somewhat repaired mood plummeted to the ground once more, when I noticed that Jesse St. Jackass hanging around Rach; fuck, she was even laughing at something that he said. Instantly, I was on the move, wanting to remind the fucker just who it was that Rachel Berry belonged too.

"Hey," I greeted, not quite able to contain the stink eye that I sent Jesse – okay, I didn't exactly try all that hard, but no one had to know that but me.

To my disappointment, Rachel's smile dimmed when she looked up at me and I wanted to apologize immediately, although I didn't particularly do anything that warranted an apology. Fuck that, I straightened up and forced back my regret. Fortunately, the douche spoke up and I didn't have to say anything else.

"Hey Puckerman, I thought you were too busy being a wild one or whatever. I just took care of our Rachel here for you."

The look I sent him clearly stated that he was on thin fucking ice and I tried figuring out what to say. 'Fuck off' probably wouldn't go over well with Rachel.

In the end, I settled on acting somewhat calmly, and I slung my arm around Rachel and smiled fakely, "Thanks Curly, but I got it from here." Then I used my much bigger body to navigate Rachel's and before she could say anything about my newest nickname for Jesse, we were standing by the entrance to the rink and I was in the middle of removing my skates.

"Noah," Rachel's voice wasn't the angry, hyena sounding one that I'd come to associate her with when she was angry; instead it was surprisingly soft and dare I say it, regretful. I looked up from what I was doing to see if it really was Rachel.

She bit her lip when I met her gaze and looked away. "I feel that I must somehow apologize to you about my earlier transgression. It was pointed out to me, rather forcibly I might add; by Finn that I seldom seem to take your emotions on the safety of our child in to consideration. Although, he didn't quite say it in so many words, because let's face it; no matter how sweet he is, Finn is by no means the biggest talker around these parts and-"

Standing up, I took a gently hold on Rachel's babbling face, making sure her eyes connected with mine completely before I spoke. "Shut up Rach," I whispered and bent forward slightly to kiss her. I tried to pour all my love for her into that one, brief kiss, instead of actually saying the words out loud like a fucking Shakespearean loser. Or whoever it was that went around talking about love and shit all the time.

When we parted, things were pretty much okay again. I helped her get out of her skates and we walked over to the area where we could buy snacks and drinks and stuff like that. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Quinn standing in the far corner with Finn of all people in front of her. He was pointing in our direction and it was pretty obvious that he was trying to get her to see reason like Rachel finally had. I mentally promised myself to work harder rebuilding my friendship with the tall goofball; after all, he was probably the only reason that Rachel got out of those damned skates of potential danger.

The whole roller rink experience was pretty much the only bump in the road for Rachel and me that I think is worth mentioning. For a little while things ran their usual course. Rachel and Quinn forgot about their promise to not demand too much of me when it came to their cravings and I let them boss me around.

Still, despite my nightly shop errands and dealing with two hormonal females 24/7, three if you count my mom, I wasn't the one who had it the hardest out of all the Gleeks these days. Apparently, Coach Sylvester had managed to demand that all her Cheerios start losing weight pronto, thus making the life of Mercedes very, very difficult. Seriously, that girl has some issues with tots. Just sayin'.

Anyhow, that whole thing should've been a fucking blip on my radar and it would've been just that if Rachel hadn't found out about Mercedes struggles after she fainted very publically in the cafeteria, after threatening to eat us all. Rachel decided to be all proactive, wanting to storm Sylvester's office and demand that she started treating her cheerleaders like actual human beings. I, being the concerned boyfriend that I am, stopped her from going, 'cause let's be honest, scary pregnant chicks can beat a lot of things, but I'm not sure Coach Sylvester is one of them.

That of course redirected my tiny barrel of crazy's anger towards me and she started asking if I thought starving diets were okay, and if so, would I force her into one after the baby was born. I did my best to assure her that I found her body smokin' but my skills at soothing pretty much equaled Finn's ability to do complicated math, so before long she was weeping and Quinn took her away to calm her, sending me the glare of death while doing so.

I was so used to the hormonal eruptions that Rachel had now, that I didn't chase after her, knowing that it'd just make things worse for everyone involved. Instead, I just had a jam session with Artie until it was time for us all to head over to the gymnasium to watch the Cheerios perform for some fancy reporter.

I made my way into the big room, scanning the place to find Rachel. She was sitting next to Quinn in a huddle that consisted of mostly glee kids, so I walked over there, followed by Artie. "Hey Beautiful," I greeted and sat down cautiously, I was ready to flee at a moment's notice if she was still in her batshit crazy mode. Fortunately, she beamed at me and nudged my legs apart, so she could settle herself in between them with her back to me. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around her baby bump, smiling to myself when I felt movement under my fingers. Feeling my kid move, actually being alive was the best feeling in the world – aside from being with Rachel of course.

"So, what do you think is gonna happen?" Rachel asked me and I shrugged carefully.

"No clue, but I got this feeling that Sylvester won't like whatever it is, 'cause I saw Mercedes looking totally determined a few minutes ago."

"Let us just hope that whatever will transpire will be something worth our while," Rachel muttered and I grinned in agreement.

Shortly after that, we were all standing around Mercedes, who was belting out an Aguilera song. I was smiling like a lovesick fool, recently I'd developed quite a fondness for that young pop sensation and judging from the matching grin on Rachel's face, she was thinking the same thing.

After the assembly or whatever it was supposed to be, we all made our way to the auditorium to practice on the song that April wanted to sing to Will for some reason. The reason soon turned out to be something about buying the auditorium so it was all good in the end. And not for the first time, I thought to myself that April Rhodes was a fine woman, if I hadn't already been pretty much head over heels for Rachel and her sexy self, I'd definitely be whipping out my best cougar maneuvers, that's all I'm sayin'.

As we all watched April belt out a song that I think only Rachel would be able to imitate, I noticed two things that I didn't particularly like. Santana was making eyes at Finn, who looked extremely uncomfortable and kept sending Quinn looks to see if she noticed anything. Lucky for him, the former cheerleader was so into April's performance, that I think not even Jesus himself could've gotten her attention.

The other thing was Jesse St. Jackass and his looks at my woman. He kept looking at her like she was something he just had to have and considering she was carrying my spawn, and I was in love with her, I was not down with that.

As soon as we'd all cheered and applauded April's performance, we started leaving to give her and a pretty doughy eyed Mr. Shue some alone time. I don't know if he was hitting that, but judging by the looks between them, there was definite want there.

Anyway, as soon as I saw that Jesse was behind me and more importantly, alone, I told Rachel to go out to my truck and wait while I got some homework from my locker that I'd forgotten. She smiled, only shaking her head a little bit at my supposed forgetfulness or, as she would say, my lack of genuine interest in my scholar endeavors, before she did as I asked.

As soon as she was out of earshot, I turned around and made sure to flex my guns enough to make sure that that mini-Shuester realized I meant business. "You need to back the fuck off, Dude." I ordered bluntly.

Jesse's face contorted into a mask of fake concern that I wanted to beat off of him as soon as possible. "I don't know what you're talking about, Puckerman," he said and crossed his arms. One quick look and I was assured that although Jesse was a sinewy motherfucker, I could easily take him down if the need arose. "I just have to say that your nervousness regarding my involvement with Rachel speaks more about your insecurities than mine. Perhaps you should seek some help for that."

"Maybe you should shut the fuck up and listen to what I have to say," I barked out, taking one step closer, reveling in the small flinch the former star of Vocal Adrenaline couldn't quite keep away. "Stay. Away. From. Rachel. I don't like the way you look at her; hell, if it was just desire or whatever, I wouldn't give a shit, 'cause Rachel knows what she's got and you don't hold a candle to the Puckasaurus, but," I practically growled out the next words, suddenly way too pissed to even try to act civil, "you look at her like she's a target for something. I'm not the smartest guy around, so I rely on my instincts and my instincts are telling me you're up to no good."

I took a deep, calming breath, thinking of Rachel's smile, before I straightened up and took a step back and finished off my warning, "to quote the mother of all badasses, "if you break her heart, I'll break your neck," got it?"*

I stared coldly into Jesse's eyes, making damn sure the singer knew I meant what I said, and when he finally let out a deep breath and nodded. I copied his nod and walked out into the hallway to get the homework that I told Rachel I went looking for in the first place.

A few minutes later, I reached my truck and Rachel, who'd been talking quietly with Quinn, stopped her conversation and turned to me with a big smile. "Ready to go?" she asked and I kissed her on the forehead and nodded.

I helped both Rachel and Quinn get in, before I walked around the truck to the driver's seat, I saw Finn standing with Santana by her car and I grimaced. Looking briefly at Quinn, I saw that she'd noticed the pair as well, so I quickly started the engine, making sure to "accidentally" make so much noise that Finn could hear us. He immediately jumped away from Santana and started making his way over to Kurt who was waiting for him. Evidently, they were sort of brother's now or something, I don't care. I was just happy that I'd ruined the little Latina's diabolical plan for the time being.

I looked over at Quinn, who was frowning thoughtfully, before my eyes were drawn to Rachel, who didn't seem to have noticed anything out of the ordinary. She just smiled at me and then started rummaging through the glove compartment with a determined look on her face.

"Noah," she said after a few moments of fruitless searching and I just knew what was gonna happen next, "would you mind terribly stopping by the nearest McDonalds? I feel a little peckish all of the sudden."

Quinn came out of her mind when she heard the word, McDonalds and I knew I didn't stand a chance. Besides, a meal at McDonalds would definitely tide me over until Hiram or Abraham could finish making one of their vegan dishes that Rachel still insisted on eating although our baby most definitely didn't like it as much as she did.

"Sure Babe," I grinned, driving out of the parking lot and out onto the road, "whatever you want."

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"What the fuck is that?"

I heard the comment from one of the guys on the football team I used to call a friend, as I walked down the hallway after my last class of the day. I barely noticed, to be perfectly honest, I was a little preoccupied with first yawning my jaw off in after class boredom and then promptly dropping it on the floor when my eyes caught what my once upon friend was looking at with a smirking grin on his face.

Ten minutes later, I pretty much stomped into the choir room where I found not only Rachel, but basically the rest of the Gleeks plus Jesse St. ' way too much hair product' sitting around in a huddle, staring at a copy of the same sheet of paper that was currently in my hands. A piece of paper that was proclaiming who was the sluttiest girl in glee club.

"Okay, somebody spill, 'cause I'm damn sure not gonna be the one who's gonna take the blame for this." They all looked at me with raised, dubious brows with questions in their eyes. Except Rachel, who was staring as if in trance at the slightly crumpled paper in her hands.

It was clear they all thought I was the one behind this shit. Fuck that, I didn't do it, and that's exactly what I'd just finished saying when the door in the other side of the room opened and Mr. Shue walked in, followed by a furious looking Figgins.

They were both carrying a copy in their hands, and I groaned loudly when their eyes sought me out and stayed on me. "Quit looking at me like that, I didn't fucking do this. I mean, come on. My pregnant girlfriend is placed second, just below the woman that may be carrying my spawn. Why would I humiliate them even further?"

"'cause you're obviously enjoying being the big bad around here," Jesse pointed out smugly from the huddle of Gleeks. A big part of me was grateful when Rachel sent the curly haired singer a glare of epic proportions. At least she believed me.

"Fuck off Tiny Dancer," I growled out, taking a threatening step forward, but Mr. Shue quickly intervened and started making a speech about coming forward with the truth, no matter who it was – all the while eying me like I was just wasting his time by not admitting that I'd done the deed.

Well, fuck 'im, I didn't do it.

Suddenly, I felt Rachel's hand on my shoulder and I looked down with a small smile. She just looked so concerned and I knew she didn't need any stress; I so didn't want a repeat performance with the blood and shit.

"Will you accompany me while I practice my runs?" she asked, pretending that the other people in the room weren't just sitting around murmuring about the Glist (seriously, what's up with adding 'gl' to every word associated with this fucking club? Just sayin'). I nodded and she smiled and stood on her toes to kiss my cheek. She was so little it was adorable.

Mr. Shue's voice brought me back to the present and I rolled my eyes when he turned to Rachel with a disapproving frown on his face. "Rachel, I get that you want to get started, but we really have to talk about this a little bit more and-"

"No," Rachel interrupted, suddenly looking so fierce and protective that I couldn't stop myself from getting a boner. "What you and my fellow glee club members are doing right now, is sitting around and debating why, how and when Noah performed this one more act of youthful delinquent atrocity without as much as a whisper of the whole concept of 'innocent until proven guilty'. Well, I for one deem the whole thing entirely preposterous and as Captain of the glee club, I'd much prefer that we continue our practice for Regionals. I do realize though, that what I usually want will never be respected in this club, because you only keep me around for my talent, so I merely intend to warm up my voice with my 'innocent until proven guilty' boyfriend. Come on, Noah."

I blinked, my dick completely forgotten at the moment. This was the first time I'd ever been defended since my mom gave up on that crap in the fourth grade when I was caught making out with the teaching assistant. I kindda liked it; but what was more important for me right now was the fact that for the first time ever, Rachel verbally acknowledged that she was always overlooked in this club – despite her so called captaincy.

The way she'd just brought the whole thing up was sweet. I totally loved the mixture of guilt and confusion on everyone's face. Especially Mr. Shue's. For once, I was digging my girl's pregnancy hormones. She really lost her aversion to conflict with the Gleeks. Awe and can I just add; some!

It took a few minutes before they started moving again, and even then it was only after Quinn walked over to us and started harmonizing softly with Rachel, who was acting like there was nothing going on out of the ordinary.

The next few days went by and the glee club all tried to not let their annoyance at Rachel's awesomeness show too much, it seemed like her cold delivery of the truth had sunk in a bit. I endured a few interrogation sessions with Mr. Shue about the Glist and just genuinely minded my own business.

Or, well, that's not entirely true. I was pretty busy trying to figure out how to help Finn, who was pretty much being stalked by Santana now. Knowing the girl like I did, I also knew that eventually, in a not too distant future, she was gonna blow up and cover the rest of us in her bitterness and acid hate.

While I was busy doing that, Rachel had somehow been roped into helping Beyonce, Artie, Tina, Mercedes and Brittany of all people. Apparently, they weren't too thrilled about their placement or lack off on the now infamous Glist and were itching to get a more badass reputation.

If I wasn't already so amazing, I'd feel for them, but…you know, I don't need any Glist's telling me I'm a stud, or used to be to be fair. I'm gonna be a dad soon so those days are over. Surprisingly the thought didn't freak me out like I thought it would. Love did weird shit to me, I guess.

Anyway, while Rach was helping out the group of wanna be sluts, I went in search of Santana to stop her from whatever the fuck it was that she was planning. I went to her usual haunts all over school and finally found her in the personal gym that Sue Sylvester had had installed for all her Cheerios when they won their third major competition in a row or something. Her reason to Figgins had been something about not wanting her girls to get fat off of the victory high.

Fortunately for me, Santana was alone. She was stretched into some sort of position on a blue matt on the floor that made my dick stand at attention. Santana might be a bitch (okay, there's no fucking doubt about it,) but she was hotter than hell.

"What do you want Asshole?" She grunted and stretched one of her tanned limbs. To my surprise it was unexpectedly easy to shake off my lust for the whole thing. I was still hard as a rock and enjoyed the view very much, don't give me wrong, I am a dude, but it wasn't her legs that I was always eager to get between. Once I'd realized that, I adjusted myself and replied to my once upon a time booty call.

"I need you to stop whatever the fuck it is that's going on between you and Finn."

Santana raised a perfectly sculpted brow at me and stood up to face me. Her entire expression screamed that she didn't give a crap about my order. "Is that so? Who crawled up your ass and made you the boss of me? I'd say Rachel but -"

"Don't," I stated calmly, letting her know with my tone of voice that I wasn't gonna tolerate any insult that was aimed at my girlfriend.

Santana rolled her eyes, but since she knew me better than practically anyone, she backed off and allowed me to continue.

"Finn's gonna be a dad soon," I said after a long moment of heavy silence, "Quinn's the girl he's been in love with since before he even knew what a fucking hard on meant. You jumping in and fucking his brains out to stay head bitch in charge ain't gonna change any of that – no matter how hot you are."

"Well, Puck," Santana growled menacingly, taking a step closer to me, "we all know that the little rug rat inside Quinnie might not even be Finn's, so don't give me any of that bullshit. And for your information, I'm totally into him. He deserves better than that blonde holier than everyone else type and even though you might disagree, I'm that person."

"Finn doesn't think so," I decided to be as brutally honest as I could, knowing damn well that the Latina in front of me wouldn't appreciate me coddling her one bit. In fact, I'm pretty sure she'd knee me in the balls if I even tried. "You fucked him and instead of rocking his world and making him wholly obsessed with you, he's still hung up on Quinn and you and I both know it. It's pathetic the way you keep running after him and threatening him. Come on, San," I added with a more gentle tone in my voice, "do you really think that you don't deserve any more than getting a guy to love you by force? You're Santana Fucking Lopez and if Finn doesn't want you, who the fuck cares? Move on and stop trying to bully him and by extension Quinn. Grow up San."

"Fuck off, Puck," Santana's eyes were bright, but I knew that she'd prefer to gorge her eyes out to admitting that she was close to anything as human as tears. "I don't need your advice."

"You don't need it, no," I agreed and stepped further to her, throwing caution to the wind. "But you're my friend and I don't wanna see you hurt, which is what'll happen if you continue on with this crap. Also, I'm Finn's friend too and since I've royally screwed him over, I'd have to pick his side in this, so just stop."

A second later, Santana's hand had left a burning imprint on my cheek and I smirked the pain away. It wasn't exactly a surprise that she'd lash out like this. "Come on, you can do better than that."

It probably wasn't the right thing to say because her eyes narrowed ominously and she changed tactics. "Fine. I'll give up on my little Finn Crusade. But," she copied my smirk flawlessly, "I have a condition."

I frowned in suspicion and then sighed heavily when she continued arrogantly, "I want you to fuck me one last time."

The silence between us was laced with venom and way too many emotions to even begin to describe. A part of me wanted to just say, "fuck it" and turn around and let the whole mess tumble on Finn's shoulders, but I was halfway responsible for the whole thing and I didn't want Quinn to experience the same horror that Rachel had in that hotel room at Sectionals because of undue stress.

Santana brought my attention back to the present by speaking, "Come on Puckerman. Fuck me like you know you're never gonna get to do with that boring singer of yours. It must be getting super tiring to only have vanilla sex all the time. You know we're good together, so if you want me to step away from Finn then do me real good like old times and I'll will."

The way her eyes bored into mine like a drill with this glint of malice finally made my control snap and I lost my temper. I grabbed her head and snarled, "Fine, if you want it so fucking badly," before crashing my lips to hers in a bruising kiss that was without a doubt the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life.

Images of Rachel poured through my mind like a movie and I hated myself, but I owed it to Finn to stop his life from going from bad to worse, so I soldiered on.

Before long, I'd slammed Santana against the nearest wall and was busy removing the tight leggings she'd been wearing for her gym session. Every move I made was methodical and I was rubbing her through her underwear with as much enthusiasm as a robot.

My dick wasn't very cooperative, so I hoped that she'd settle for getting off by my hands instead of sex. Because I knew that there was no way in hell that I could do more than what I was already doing. It literally hurt my soul.

After a few minutes, I suddenly felt Santana push me away harshly and ask me to stop. Her voice sounded broken, like she was holding back tears.

"What are you doing?" she asked hoarsely and I swallowed a lump of self hatred as I looked into her eyes.

"What you wanted." My eyes must have showed my internal struggle, because Santana whimpered like a broken animal after a few seconds of silent staring into them.

"Why are you acting like this? You've always wanted me! Always!" she all but screamed the last part as she slid down the wall with a thump. "You're making me feel like a fucking whore, Puck," she added in a mere whisper.

I sighed, running a trembling hand through my 'hawk before sitting down next to her. "Well you kindda acted like one," I reminded her. She snorted and placed her head on my shoulder with a sigh.

"Why can't things go back to the way they were? God, I sound like such a whiny bitch."

"Things change," I replied quietly, slowly letting myself revel in the fact that I didn't have to betray Rachel and risk my own happiness for Finn's. "I'm in love with the girl I bullied for years, about to be a father for Christ's sake, same with Finn and you act like it's not allowed. Santana, I love you, I always will, but I'm in love with Rachel."

"Yeah, I got that," she sighed again and continued softly, "I'm sorry about before. I shouldn't have made you do that."

I smiled and kissed her on the top of her head and we sat together in silence for a while before Santana's usual behavior returned, "If you repeat any of this to anyone, I'm gonna fucking kill ya."

"Yeah, I got that," I smiled, happy that despite everything, our relationship hadn't changed. "Now I just gotta ask-"

"I'll lay off of Finn and his oh-so-beloved," Santana interrupted, guessing my question. "Can we just sit here for a little while and keep our traps shut before I have to go out there and be myself again."

I put an arm around Santana's small shoulder and pulled her closer with a small smile. "Sure, as long as you want."

0o0o0

When I finally found Rachel again, later that day, she was talking intensely with Quinn, who had an almost guilty look on her face. But I didn't really care about that all that much, my attention was on the brunette that I now didn't even bother hiding my obvious feelings for.

I walked over to her and embraced her from behind, placing my hands on her swollen belly. My own guilt over my kiss and grope with Santana turned into a roaring bonfire of self blame. I wanted to tell her, so without even acknowledging Quinn, who was midsentence, I started dragging Rachel over to my locker to reveal everything.

"Noah," Rachel admonished, once I let her go. "As you're very well aware, I don't find it all that pleasurable to be hauled around, especially when I'm in the middle of a serious conversation with Quinn. I've discovered that she was the one that originated the Glist and although I have some semblance of understanding for her desire to do so, I very much fail to see why she'd put me on the thing since I have considered us quite close friends for the past few months. Perhaps-"

"Rachel," I blurted out, not caring the least about the stupid Glist or Quinn's involvement in it at the moment. "I need to tell you something."

Her face scrunched up in an adorable frown that nearly made me stop what I was doing. "I'm listening Noah."

I bit my lip and took a deep breath. It felt like I was on my way to an execution; if she didn't believe me or worse she decided that I was a stupid asshole and dumped my sorry ass, I was pretty sure I was never gonna come back from that.

"S-something happened today," I began, not even caring that I stuttered like a loser, "I talked with Santana. I mean, I was talking and then…" Unable to continue, I looked into Rachel's now worried eyes and I didn't know what to do. I didn't want her to get all emotional; it wasn't good for the kid or her.

"Yeah and then?" she slowly asked, when it became clear that I had no fucking clue what I was gonna say.

Just as I was about to reveal everything, right down to the panty groping, Santana's black hair blocked my vision as she stepped between Rachel and I in her own superior way. "So Manhands, I totally tried getting it on with Puck today, but even after kissing him and rubbing my perfect self on him, he wouldn't go for it. I guess you've changed him, turned him around and all that. Good for you. Now, excuse me while I go vomit from all the fluffiness."

Santana twirled around gracefully and disappeared down the hallway, acting completely oblivious to the dumbfounded look that both Rachel and I were sending her way. Rachel turned to me after a few seconds with a smile on her face. "I think she just gave us her blessing, don't you Noah?"

I nodded mutely, still confused as hell. I honestly didn't know how to react, but once again, Rachel got me back to reality. "Well, as nice as it is to discover your willingness to be honest with me, I really have to go and continue my previous conversation with Quinn before she slips away. I think you should go after Santana and thank her."

I frowned and she elaborated, "Whether she knows it or not, I have spent quite some time alongside Santana and thus have gotten to know her personality quite well; so, I know that what she claimed to have happened is not the whole story."

I tried to interject, fearing her wrath, but for the nth time, Rachel shocked the hell out of me, "I also know that given the peculiar look in her eyes as she confronted me, she was trying to mend some fences with you. So go after her and let her know you appreciate her efforts. Santana is not a very likable person, but your bond with her is not something I'm going to interfere with. Now go and we'll talk later."

Then Rachel stood on her toes and kissed my frozen lips and quickly walked over to Quinn, who'd witnessed the whole thing and whose expression pretty much mirrored my own. What the fuck?

I'd never in a million years live to understand women, let alone one Rachel Berry. But I was pretty okay with that. I looked around, not seeing Santana anywhere, so I whipped out my phone and texted her, 'Thanks.'

A few minutes later, San's reply came and I laughed out loud, scaring the shit out of Jacob, who was walking by and still twitched every time our paths crossed, 'F U…U R welcome.'

Like I said, I'd never live to understand females, but I was pretty okay with it.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER EIGHTTEEN

Things turned back to normal for a little while…well, if you call servicing your pregnant girlfriend twenty four seven and not in the good way, normal.

But I didn't give a fuck that Rachel practically owned my ass. I was still badass enough to handle all of the stares and the whispers; my guns would make damn sure that no one laid a finger on my girl no matter how lame everyone thought I was.

Okay, so I guess you're confused about my sudden less than cool status in McKinley. It's kindda funny when you think about it. Joining Glee club, knocking up the school's only real future; cheating with the school's golden boy's girl, who was even more golden than he was and my place at the cool kids table was never threatened. But cut off my fucking 'hawk to make sure I don't have mole cancer or whatever and I'm suddenly treated like I've got leprosy or some shit like that.

But like I said, I don't really give a fuck. The old me might have tried to score with one of the popular chicks and steal some of her mojo or whatever, but (and I know how lame this sounds) I only had eyes for Rachel Berry these days.

It didn't hurt that our baby situation made her boobs bigger than ever. Nice.

"Noah, stop it." Rachel's firm tone of voice brought me back from a pretty decent memory of the night before where I'd actually been allowed to check out said boobs. I loved that pregnant girls got horny; I just wish it was like that all the time.

"What?" I smirked, knowing that she knew that I knew she'd caught me reliving a great moment.

Rachel just smiled and pointed her chin forwards towards Mr. Shue who was standing looking at us with a look that was equal part annoyance and reluctant amusement. I guess he's not too old to appreciate a good guy moment; I adjusted my dick as discreetly as possible and tried to pay attention.

I mostly paid attention to Rachel, 'cause I knew what she'd been obsessed with lately. Apparently, more than half the club weren't participating to their fullest endeavors; her words, not mine, in case you were wondering. And now she was gonna bring it, so to speak.

So, true to form, Rachel had revealed her oh so shocking discovery to an equally disappointed Shue. It was kindda nice seeing them agree on something for once, I thought to myself as I watched our curly haired teacher spew some crap about team effort and assign the upcoming week's assignment. I personally wasn't too bothered, 'cause being with Rachel pretty much guaranteed that I didn't slouch in glee club, at least, not if I wanted to get some in the future.

Jesse raised his manicured hand (another strike against him in my book; I mean, what dude get's manicures that aren't, you know, Kurt?) and asked with his usual air of arrogance about him, "Mr. Shuester, I have to ask if I can be excused from this so called assignment? I honestly wanted to work some more on our set list for Regionals, because it is in dire need of someone truly gifted to spruce it up a bit. And also," Jesse smiled a performer's smile that almost rivaled Rachel's, "I've never once not sung to my fullest here, so I feel that I should be excused."

I frowned, having a feeling of him so not being done yet. And I was right; he straightened up and sent a simpering smile at Rachel as he continued, "Which of course also means that our star singer should be excused. Perhaps she and I could work on the set list together while the rest of you engage in your little homework lesson."

I gritted my teeth at his condescending tone, my never too far away urge to smack the curls off his head resurfaced, but before I got a chance to, Rachel placed her small hand on my arm and sent a truly insulted look in Jesse's direction.

"I'm sorry Jesse, but I truly feel that this week's assignment is completely lost on you. While I admit that our combined efforts on the set list would more than likely improve it to true greatness, I am a team player. There is no 'I' in 'Team', as I'm sure you're well aware. Since I was the one who originally discovered the lackluster work effort going on in my fellow glee clubbers, I find it only fair that I get a chance to see them all band together and show me and Mr. Shue," Rachel at this point sent a smile in Shue's direction, having clearly forgotten that he was the real authority here for a moment, "that this is merely a temporary halt in our schedule and that once we're all on board again, we'll continue on our road to winning Regionals. Don't you all agree?"

I winced when her bony elbow caught me in the ribs, but I got the cue and nodded, murmuring something like, "hell yeah," for emphasis.

I only spotted it 'cause I was looking straight at him; there was a brief flash of anger in Jesse's eyes before he blinked and his usual look of friendliness returned. He nodded amiably and said, "I'll retract my suggestion then. I'm all for the team after all."

Then he looked up at me and his smarmy ways immediately disappeared into a blank mask once he caught my death glare. Evidently he hadn't quite forgotten my last warning. Good for him.

0o0o0

A few days later, Quinn sought me out when I was standing next to Finn at his locker while he somewhat frantically was trying to see if his homework had magically been done by the Homework Fairy, like Brittany had suggested in our homeroom class. Sometimes I wonder why we're friends, really I do…

Quinn interrupted my amused thoughts as she stepped neatly in-between me and Finn. We both pretended we didn't hear the bang of his head hitting the locker door when he too realized she was next to him. "Hey Quinn," I greeted, like I hadn't driven her and my girlfriend to school as I always did these days. "What's up?"

"I need your help with Rachel." Quinn stated coolly and added when I raised a questioning eyebrow. "She's still upset about the Glist…Puck, haven't you noticed that she barely says two words to me anymore?"

Now that she mentioned it, Rachel had been focused a bit much on me during our car rides lately; but I hadn't complained, 'cause I sorta liked her crazy rambling. Yeah, shocked me too when I first discovered that.

Playing it cool as well, I leaned up against the lockers. "Yeah, so?"

Quinn rolled her eyes, "Fine, I'll only admit it once, I like Rachel and I'm sorry that she was hurt by my making the darn thing in the first place."

"Wait, you made the Glist?" Finn's shell shocked voice interjected before I could say anything and Quinn and I both looked at him sternly for interrupting us. He smiled his goofy grin and dove right back into his locker.

"So, will you help me?" Quinn pretended her ex-boyfriend hadn't said anything. Then she said something that freaked me out so much that I dropped the math book that I had been holding in my hand. "Or do you only help bitchy Cheerios?"

I looked over Quinn's shoulder and noticed that Finn had stopped moving. If I hadn't been so tense, I'd probably have laughed my ass off at the sight of his ginormous body frozen halfway inside his locker. As it were, I knew why my friend acted like that. I'd told him about Santana and I's talk, leaving out a few bits and pieces of course, but enough to put his mind at ease about the whole thing.

And now Quinn suddenly seemed to know everything. I'd be panicking too.

I finally replied to Quinn's question, playing it as casual as I could. "Well, Fabray, you may not be a Cheerio anymore, but you're definitely still a bitch, so sure; I'll help you out. Or," I held up a finger," you could just ask Rachel what you need to do to fix things. She's always liked the direct approach when it comes to this kind of stuff."

"Oh really Puckerman?" Quinn fake gushed, blinking excessively up at me, "you're just sooo smart. Thanks for nothing." Then she turned to leave, but stopped short at the sight of Finn's still immobile body. The scowl on her face softened and she smiled a very small smile. Then she walked over and said quietly, "I know you slept with Santana, Finn. And I'm not angry. We're not together anymore, remember?"

Another bang from inside the locker told us that he'd most definitely heard that and I frowned incredulously at her. She scoffed and said as Finn slowly emerged from the locker, rubbing the top of his head. "You didn't honestly expect Santana to keep this kind of stuff a secret from Brittany and what Brittany knows, we all know. She still thinks that secrets can cause children in Africa to lose their wings. Coach Sylvester is to blame for that one."

Then Quinn bent down to grab her bag with a tired sigh, but before she reached it, Finn had grabbed it and was smiling hesitantly down at her. "C-can I walk you to class?" he asked and I grinned when I saw the genuine flash of happiness his suggestion caused in Quinn's eyes.

The former couple walked away, completely forgetting me and the still open locker, which I closed with a small chuckle.

A few hours later, I made my way into the choir room. Quinn was sitting next to Finn and they were engrossed in their own little world and I was honestly happy for them. Maybe now Quinn would stop cockblocking me with her insane non Jewish cravings while I was trying to get busy with my girl.

Speaking of whom, was sitting surprisingly quietly by herself at the piano. I made my way over to her, passing Kurt that looked like he was trying out for a part as a hardcore lesbian.

"Hey you," I kissed Rachel's cheek and sat down next to her. "What's wrong? Need me to kick someone's ass?"

Rachel smiled and leaned her head on my shoulder. "As much as I appreciate your vigilant support of me, I feel that there will be no use for your caveman abilities at this point in time. I'm simply very tired."

Concern flooded me and left me practically gasping for air. "You okay?" My eyes were already busy scanning her from head to toe, and not in the fun way, I didn't even linger at her boobs like I usually did.

"Merely tired, Noah," Rachel repeated with a small yawn that she hid in my shoulder.

Mr. Shue's arrival interrupted us and we walked over to the other Gleeks hand in hand. I pretended I didn't see Santana acting like she wanted to vomit at the sight; we might have reconnected and whatever, but she was still Santana, the head bitch of McKinley, now that Quinn wasn't fighting her for the title anymore.

After giving us a few moments to settle down, Mr. Shue made us sing the songs we'd chosen for his assignment. Finn went first, singing something mushy about Love and Forgiveness all the while eying Quinn like a piece of meat. Frankly, I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to it, 'cause, first off, it was Finn singing a fucking love song and two, I kept looking down at Rachel, who was just being so unnaturally silent that it was beginning to freak me the hell out.

Next up was Jesse, who proudly declared he was gonna sing some lame ass Broadway number that none, except Rachel and Kurt had ever hurt about, and started belting out something that sounded really good. I hate to admit it, 'cause St. Douche is a douche, but damn he's got some pipes.

Rachel clapped politely and then placed her head back on my shoulders as Kurt made his way down the chairs to sing. After his song was over, we all just sat there gaping at him. Mr. Shue talked to him a little bit and I ran my fingers through Rachel's soft hair, trying to sooth whatever it was that she needed soothing for.

No one, especially my little bundle of crazy, was so tired without a damn good reason.

As she slowly got up to sing, I realized why. Her voice sounded like a mix between a horny cat and a dying whale. Awful. She was horrified about sounding less than perfect and I gestured to Quinn, who quickly came over to us and helped me calm her down. Stress wasn't a good thing for the baby.

I made Rachel agree to let me take her home, and Quinn followed us, and Finn was right behind her. I guess they were an item again. I'd be happy about it later, right now I was all about calming Rachel down.

The next few days went by in a blur. Rachel's dramatic side, coupled with her pregnancy hormones wasn't a good mix and it took a visit to one of me and Finn's old friends to see that her life wasn't ending just 'cause she couldn't sing.

The good thing about this whole mess was that Rachel had completely forgiven Quinn for her Glist thing and things went back to normal, except I actually got to call Finn in to help me when the girls' cravings had me searching for their desired items in the middle of the night.

Finn and I were pretty much back to the way we used to be, except only way better now. As long as we didn't talk too much about the paternity of Quinn's baby. For now we all just acted like it was Finn's kid and then we'd let things develop after the birth.

I knew I'd love the kid if it was mine, but there was a big part of me that really hoped that I only sired Rachel's baby. And judging from the looks Finn and Quinn exchanged sometimes I knew I wasn't the only one.

Things pretty much settled down after Rachel got her voice back. And we all had this rare moment of peace where we reconnected and bonded (yeah, I'm aware how sappy I sound, but who fucking cares?). It was nice, but I'd probably have enjoyed it more if I'd known that things were about to change.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER NINETEEN

"Mr. Puckerman, would you please try and explain to me why it was that you felt it necessary to attack a fellow student?"

Figgins voice was tinged with what I think he thought was harshness and badassness, but in reality it just made him seem like a wannabe tough disciplinary figure. Damn, even my narrative is getting more wordy these days.

Anyway, I just shrugged and looked away. Of course I immediately wished I hadn't, 'cause my mom was sitting there looking so disappointed at me. I get it; I'm a screw up with a baby on the way, but damn, stop looking at me like I'm turning into a Nazi.

"Mr. Puckerman!" Figgins leaned forward in his chair, once more going for fear, but not quite succeeding.

"Look, Mr. Figgins," my mom said after a moment where I'd just sat without speaking. "My son is known for his temper, it is in his blood, I'm afraid." Whoa there, stop comparing me to my dead beat dad every time I fuck up! "So this incident is regrettably not unprecedented. But I assure you, I'll handle it."

Mr. Figgins nodded and looked at me, waiting for me to look up before he spoke again. "Seeing that you have a strong parental figure to punish you for your unexplained brawling will not make me forgo punishment in school. You're suspended for three days and once you're back you'll get a full week of detention with Coach Sylvester and you'll have to write a sincere letter of apology to the injured party."

"Fuck that," I jumped to my feet. "I'll take the suspension and the detention with Satan's worst nightmare, but fuck if I'm gonna apologize to that Jackass."

"You will watch your tone Boy," my mom tried to hiss next to me, but I just sent her a glare that could've melted stone and turned to Figgins.

"I get that punching people are bad and shi- stuff, but he was asking for it. He upset Rachel. She's pregnant Dude, in case you hadn't noticed! Nobody messes with my family."

My mother blinked, her anger at me seeming to evaporate the word Rachel was mentioned. Fuck that, I was too mad at her quick condemning of me to give a shit. Figgins on the other hand was frowning and looking confused.

"Jesse St. James behaved poorly? I find that hard to believe. Tell me everything right this instance."

I sighed and explained what I couldn't hide any more.

"It all started a few days ago when…" As I started telling the story, the memory of it played out inside of my head.

"Noah, don't be alarmed, but I have something to tell you."

I had to instantly fight down the urge to hyperventilate. I was not ready for bad news or God forbid an early delivery right now. "Yeah?"

Rachel smiled and caressed my cheek soothingly; evidently, she could read me like an open book. I didn't care that I acted like a lovesick puppy and leaned into her warm touch.

Then she started talking and my gooey visit in Vaginaville ended pretty quickly. "So, after the not so enlightening visit from Mr. Ryan where he tried fruitlessly, at least on my part, to crush our hopes and dreams for the future; I was held aside by Jesse and he asked me to help him put together a number that we could present to Mr. Shuester and perhaps even wind up getting on the set list for Regionals. It's a very good song, and although I'm more inclined to singing with you or Finn, who's after all my male counterpart in the glee club then I harmonize extremely well with Jesse and we can't deny that after all of his wins at Nationals that he knows what he's doing. Maybe I could even end up with a few tricks that we could use for Regionals."

She finally stopped to take a breath and I choked out through my painfully clenched jaw, "when are you gonna rehearse? And more importantly, where?"

"I suggested the Choir Room of course and the auditorium, but Jesse rightly pointed out to me that if we wanted to keep things under wraps until we'd perfected our song then we would need a place that is a bit more private. So we agreed that my house would be best. He'll drive me home so you won't have to take me today. And I know that Quinn is spending the day at Finn's, trying to get his mother to forgive her for her indiscretion with you."

Damn, bringing up the betrayal of Finn meant I couldn't really object to her spending time with St. Douche. So I just sighed and kissed Rachel on the lips and watched her wobble away as elegantly as her pregnant body would allow her.

There was a part of me that just wanted to follow her and insist on staying in the room with her while she practiced with Jesse, but I was realistic enough to know I'd probably earn myself a kick in the nuts for even attempting that. Instead, I just settled on giving Jesse warning glares whenever he was around for the rest of the day.

Things at school turned a bit confusing; one minute Mr. Ryan cancelled glee and another he was throwing T-shirts at us and telling us to go for our dreams. But at least it meant that Mr. Shue was too preoccupied to keep much attention on me as I kept staring holes in Jesse's pompous back.

I hated the afternoons that I showed up at the Berry house only to catch St. Suck Up kiss Abraham and Hiram's ass' with his eloquence shit. I have to admit there was a nagging feeling of insecurity inside of me whenever I caught Abraham and Hiram smile genuinely at the former Vocal Adrenaline star.

They'd never acted that carefree around me. It could be because I screwed their only child and impregnated her at sixteen, but come on, that was months ago!

I ignored the jealousy I had over the easy way Jesse got accepted and focused on what was more important. The nagging feeling of impending doom that kept creeping up on me; I just knew something was gonna go down eventually.

And finally, it happened. One afternoon I'd been delayed at school; apparently Ms. Pillsbury wanted to let me know that my soon to be fatherhood was going to be a hardship and that babies were dirty, cute, but dirty and if I'd really thought things through. Of course the whole thing took an hour because she kept attacking her hand sanitizer at the mere mention of poopy diapers.

Point is, I was delayed and only caught the sight of Jesse practically running to his car. Frowning, I realized that he looked frazzled; almost guilty for some reason and I just knew that Rachel needed me.

Bursting through the door, I barely acknowledged Hiram, who was cooking in the kitchen and ran up the stairs to Rachel's room.

The sound of a beautiful voice rang out form her slightly opened door and I entered her room with baited breath. Rachel always sang along whenever that pansy Broadway song was played. Always.

When I walked inside I exhaled with a curse. Rachel was sitting on her bed with a stony expression in her usually so expressive eyes. Her hands were folded protectively over her big belly.

"Babe," I whispered and she looked over at me with a dead look in her eyes for a little while until her eyes slowly started tearing up and one lone tear escaped her and trailed down her cheek.

It was all it took for me to almost jump on to the bed next to her and wrap her in my arms. In return, Rachel finally let go and started bawling into my shoulder while she explained in between sobs what had happened.

Apparently, Jesse St. Dickwad was way worse than I thought; some kind of agent for Rach's mom that she'd never met. The tape I'd heard walking in was said mom singing and Jesse had forced her to listen to it before fleeing halfway through the song.

On the outside I was trying my hardest to console the still weeping Rachel in my arms, stress was not good for her and I knew she'd hate herself more than Jesse if anything happened to our kid. On the inside, however, I was fucking fuming.

This is why the next day, when I'd walked Rachel to class and handed her over to Quinn who I'd filled in earlier on the phone, I went searching for a soon to be dead choir boy.

I couldn't find him anywhere, but I kept looking and even enlisted Matt and Mike to help me out. Finally I found him in the gym where he was doing some lame ass ballerina crap and before he even had time to yelp, I was on him like white on rice!

The feeling of my fist smashing into his face was deeply satisfying and only my firm grip on him stopped him from falling down on the floor. I was just readying for another sucker punch when Matt grabbed my arm and started dragging me away from the moaning Jesse.

Mike stepped in-between us and looked completely confused as he held up his hands to keep me from advancing again. "What the hell Dude?"

I ignored my friend and sneered at Jesse, who stumbled to his feet, looking furious himself. "She's pregnant Asshat! She was fucking sobbing in my arms! Did it even cross your mind that upsetting my girl would be bad for our kid, huh?"

At the sound of my words, Matt's arms slipped away, I could hear his gasp at what I said, but I didn't care at the moment. All I cared about was the fact that I was no longer held back and I pounced on Jesse again.

"Hey! Jewish Babydaddy!"

I was roughly pushed away and only Mike's and Matt's quick instincts saved me from falling on my face. I looked up and saw Coach Sylvester standing before me, her Cheerio's right behind her. Santana was frowning, knowing me well enough that I never went off like this without a damn good reason. Brittany was gaping at the bleeding Jesse with shock and the other chicks were just muttering amongst themselves.

"Not that I don't appreciate a decent brawl every now and again, after all I showed a certain muscles from Brussels most of his moves in my younger years, but this is just completely unacceptable! You're coming with me to Figgins' office right now! Shaft and Other Asien; take the bleeding Will Shuester Mini-Me to the nurse's office and wait there until I get you."

"Then she placed a grip on my shoulder that could pretty much break stone and led me to you," I trailed off my story and came back to the present where my mom and Figgins were both staring at me with different expressions on their faces.

Figgins looked tired, but understanding of my actions. Despite all my meetings with him over the years, I've always kind of liked the guy; he was just a bit too out of touch with things to be taken all that seriously sometimes. My mother on the other hand was wearing a guilty expression. It finally seemed to have dawned on her that she'd once again acted prematurely.

Well, fuck her. I didn't give a damn about her thoughts about me anymore. All I cared about was Rachel and the baby in her stomach.

So, I just sat there, waiting for the shit to hit the fan, 'cause, like I said, there's no way in hell I'd ever apologize to Jesse for beating the snot out of him.

Suddenly, our tense silence was broken by a knock on the door and to my surprise, Abraham Berry stepped inside. He was followed closely by Rachel.

I immediately got up and tried to get her to sit in my chair, but she just gently shoved me down and then placed herself on my lap, looking like she didn't give a damn about the slightly reproving look that Figgins and my mom sent her.

"We're here to lend our support to Noah," Rachel blurted out, sending a mild and yet very knowing look at mom, who suddenly couldn't look at us anymore and focused her stare on Abraham instead. "Admittedly, his reaction to a personal matter between Jesse St. James and myself was a bit over the top, but I simply refuse to-"

"Don't Babe," I muttered, interrupting her before she could threaten with lawyers and stuff. Figgins sent me a grateful look; I guess I wasn't the only one that had spent some time with him in his office over the years.

In the end, I got off with two weeks detention and I didn't have to write any stupid letter. I'd even have taken the suspension but a little polite phrasing of something or other by Abraham made the whole thing go away. He was growing on me, I hafta admit.

I left with Rachel and her dad; not even looking at my mom as I walked by her. She made a sound as if she wanted to stop me from going, but it seemed like she realized that our relationship was nowhere near the area where she could order me around anymore.

Instead I helped Rachel in to the backseat of Abraham's Lincoln (oh, yeah, I totally made a comment, it was just too easy) and sat down in the passenger seat. A few minutes later, we could hear Rachel's gentle snoring and we shared a smile because no matter how many times we said she snored, Rachel always denied it vehemently.

We drove in silence for a little while until Abraham shocked the hell out of me and placed a hand on my shoulder without looking away from the road. "St. James might be flashy and charming, but you're the real deal and even though I don't approve of violence per say, I'm glad to know you're looking out for our girl, Son."

Fuck, I felt this weird weight in my chest at the endearment. If anyone had asked me if I'd ever be seen by the tough as nails Abraham Berry as anything other than a genuine nuisance, I'd have laughed my ass off. But now, with the almost tangible pride in his voice, I knew better.

And damn if I didn't have to blink furiously like a pussy to stop my eyes from tearing up with joy.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TWENTY

Jesse didn't return to school after my little chat with him. I couldn't honestly pretend that I cared, so I just sat next to an equally silent Rachel as Kurt, Mercedes and others moaned about the loss of their male lead.

Finn looked a little smug, I noticed once Mr. Shue said that Finn was still the New Directions' actual male lead. Quinn rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek and then looked at me with a rare seen light in her eyes. It would seem that getting back together with Frankenteen had served us all well. And with us all, I really mean me.

Kurt kept saying stuff about how much Regionals would suck and then he actually had the fucking gall to say shit about him leaving was Rachel's fault because she couldn't control her caveman boyfriend. I would've gotten up and kicked his ass, if Rachel hadn't just proved how much control she had over me, by just shaking her head and placing her hand on my knee.

Instead, Matt and Mike scowled harshly down at Kurt, who looked confused over the hostility he was suddenly getting. Although he and Rachel had become a lot better friends, it was still not uncommon for him (or a lot of the others to be fair) to spew out a not too kind remark about Rachel personality, which had only gotten more vocal after I'd put a bun in her oven. He'd never before gotten such a rude response and it seemed to shake his foundations a little bit; Mercedes' too by the look of it.

Rachel though, looked almost as confused as Kurt did. Other than me, she wasn't used to people jumping to her defense and in the midst of everything that she'd suffered through these last few days; I guess she'd forgotten that Matt and Mike had been with me in the gym when I attacked Jesse.

Mr. Shue quickly jumped in, calming everyone down and I sent him a glare of epic proportions because it seemed like he was always fast to jump in whenever it wasn't Rach being targeted on. Again, it was Rachel's touch that calmed me down as she placed her head tiredly on my shoulder with a small sigh.

Oh yeah, that's right; I didn't tell you all about that level of crazy she'd put me through last night and the main reason for her (and mine) exhaustion. Let me just say that rooting through dumpsters for some crappy light shit ain't my idea of a good time, evidently she'd gone all Veronica Mars on things and figured out that Vocal Adrenaline was gonna do Lady Gaga.

And, according to Rachel that was the bad thing. Me, elbows deep in all kinds of gross shit was merely an "inconvenience in the search for imperative answers". When I dared mention that I had no real idea who the dude was, she went into a hormonal induced rage that pretty much had me running to Quinn for cover. It was only after a quick listen to one of Lady G's songs, I managed to get back into her good graces.

Anyway, Rachel was tired, but after a quick moment's rest on my shoulder, she raised her hand and interrupted Mr. Shue as usual, telling all about our late night expedition. This immediately got Kurt's attention away from the whole Jesse situation; hell everyone was very interested in hearing every detail.

In the end, Mr. Shue forced us to do Lady Gaga and Finn suggested that the people with, you know, dicks, got to sing something slightly more manly. Kurt was excluded off course, even the suggestion of him not joining the girls for this assignment nearly made his chemical enhanced hair to fall flat.

The look Rachel sent me for not immediately jumping onto the Gaga wave almost made me change my mind, but then Finn caught my eye and I remembered that I was supposed to be badass. So, I agreed with him and Mr. Shue allowed us to split into gender teams.

Rachel huffed a bit, swearing that I'd regret my decision without really saying it and I leaned forward and kissed her cheek and whispered that she was beautiful and luckily she was in the mood for flattery and I was out of the doghouse.

We went our separate ways and I walked over to Finn, Matt, Mike and Artie and let them all come up with suggestions that we could use. I just coasted through the entire hour, too tired to really care to be honest. The only thing I cared about was the smile of pure joy that was on Rachel's lips as she and Kurt seemed to be directing the other girls into something fierce. She really was fucking adorable.

"Hey, Dude," I blinked away from staring at Rachel and met Matt's serious eyes.

"What's up?" I asked, yawning widely enough to swallow any ocean.

"Is Rachel okay?"

I was actually touched that the quiet guy that usually never let anyone see what he was really thinking was so obvious in his concern for my girl. So, I nodded and gave an honest answer, "She's dealing; but she's okay."

"Good." And that was that; Matt's and I's friendship has never been a wordy one, so I just held up my fist and he bumped it and we turned our attention to Artie and Finn, who was talking about doing something with kisses.

Immediately, I looked over at Rachel again, but Mike quickly diverted my thoughts about how hot Rachel looked standing there, arguing passionately while gently holding one hand on her swollen belly, and then he told me all about Kiss in like five seconds.

I'm not even gonna go into details about all of the rehearsal crap; the makeup was okay, but kinda made me feel like a drag queen with a Goth fetish and Puckzilla don't need no makeup concealing his awesomeness. Although, I can rock anything because…well, have you seen me?

Well, after we'd laughed a bit at how stupid we looked, the guys and I just played and had fun after school the next few days. It was actually kind of fun and although I missed Rachel, I knew she and Quinn and the others had planned this big snooping trip over to Carmel High School, so she wasn't exactly alone.

In the evenings, I was chilling with Finn at the Berrys' house, trying not to laugh at the curses that came from Abraham and Hiram as they tried making a dress for Rachel, because, seriously, the looks Abraham gave me told me I was on thin fucking ice the first time I let loose a tiny chuckle.

Basically, it was a good time and Rachel and I even managed to slip in some baby planning as I sat in her bed one evening with her head resting in my lap and my hand following the movements of our child in her belly. It had freaked me out the first time I'd seen it, it was literally like a scene right out of Alien; like something was trying to escape out of her skin.

But now, it had become a thing before we went to sleep. Currently, I was staying in the Berry house because me and my ma still weren't really on good terms and Rachel had somehow (don't ask me how) managed to get her overprotective fathers to let me spend the nights in her room.

I had to sit through an hour long bed time routine with vigorous brushing of hair and teeth, along with a seemingly endless debate on how the day had gone. I loved every second of it…

Shut up, I was in love.

Anyway, Rachel turned her head a little and looked up at me, while her hands traced mine on top of her stomach. "I think we should live here until we've graduated, Noah. The added costs of you and the baby won't be a hurdle upon my Daddies, especially since I've convinced them both to allow us to pay a somewhat ceremonial rent while living under this roof during our senior year. Daddy absolutely refuses to accept any money from us until then; but don't you think we should get some part time jobs to help pay for the baby requirements; it is after all a parent's responsibility to see to it that their offspring gets the very best that is to offer. I myself never lacked anything and I consider myself to be a very fortuitous and happy individual. And don't we won't a happy child, Noah?"

"You know I do," I muttered, trying to absorb everything she'd said and not let my masculine pride overtake me yet again as it had done so many times during Rach's pregnancy. "But you're not getting a job; no fucking way."

"Noah, there's no use for such a vulgar language. Ours are no longer the only ears around, remember," Rachel scolded me and jumped on to the next issue, "and I really don't see why you're so against me procuring a job and thus the ability to gain a significant nest egg until we move to New York."

"Look," I said quietly, not really in the mood to yell, "I know you think I'm being a dick about this, but you already scared the crap out of me when you wanted to jump on a mattress, I don't think my nerves could handle you working – especially since you was told to relax as much as possible after Sectionals. Or do I need to remind you how that experience affected us both and what could've happened?"

Rachel sighed and looked away from me to our combined hands. "I suppose you're right. I just feel so inadequate lately. I waddle wherever I go, I'm enormous. I mean, Quinn's further along than I am, but she's so much smaller and look beautiful. All her added weight is centered on her belly area and she's still so graceful. I can hardly say the same thing and I just wanted to, I don't know, make myself feel useful again."

I smiled and kissed her forehead, ignoring the all but died out part of me that screamed I was a fucking sappy asshole, and said seriously, "Well, maybe you're bigger than Quinn and waddle when you walk, but honestly, you're all my eyes can look at. I think you're fucking hot and if it wasn't 'cause I'm pretty sure Hiram and Abraham's will barge in any minute screaming about that butt ugly costume they're making for you, I'd show you just how beautiful you are. And then I'd fuck your brains out."

"Noah!" Rachel grinned and slapped the hand that I'd placed on her boob away with a fake look of disgust. The twinkle in her eye told me that she was back in high spirits and she proved it a second later, by catapulting into a story about how she was gonna go check out her competition the next day and I, like the sappy fuck I was, just smiled and bore it without no problem at all.

0o0o0

The next day was spent with going to classes that Rachel didn't even have to force me too anymore (at least, not all the time), and slipping Rachel some of my meat without anyone noticing at lunch - Whoa there, get your mind out of the gutter; I meant meat as in edible flesh that comes from animals...hehe, anyway back to the point; She was horrified that she'd gotten a craving for meat lately and would rather die than admit that she was actually eating a formerly living creature – her words not mine.

After lunch, the boys and girls headed off in different directions to practice our performances. Finn came huffing after us as the last one; the little sheepish grin on his face was one I recognized well. He'd used to wear it before the break up and he'd been running himself ragged to please Quinn. I think he's a bit masochistic that one.

Anyway, in the middle of our run through where Mike was doing something pretty gross with the guitar that I won't try to describe here, I got a text from Rach that she was gonna sleep over at Mercedes' after the stake out at Carmel, along with Quinn, so I was free to do whatever I wanted.

A part of me didn't like the idea of not sleeping next to her and waking up early to just lay there and enjoy our closeness like I'd grown accustomed to recently, but the other part of me, the part that hadn't lost his balls, rejoiced and before long, I was spending the night at Finn's house with Matt, Mike and Artie. We invited Kurt, but he was apparently on some kind of juice diet and had to be in his own environment in the evenings. If you ask me, I just think he had to stay close to home because he had the runs or something.

Anyway, I could smell a fucking epic WOW battle coming on with my friends and I knew it was gonna be a long time before I could get time for another one, so I planned to push aside my unmanly longing for Rachel and just enjoy myself.

Way later that night, Matt and I were in the middle of trash-talking the others (except Artie, who'd been picked up by his dad earlier because he had something lame to do next day, a funeral for a great grandmother or something) when I suddenly realized that I hadn't heard from Rachel, not even a quick text to say goodnight or anything and I started feeling a little strange. The pull I always had whenever my girl was involved, suddenly grew and before I knew it, I'd somehow convinced the guys to take the trip over to Mercedes.

We went on foot, 'cause admittedly, there'd been some weed involved in our little guy fest and with a baby on the way, I didn't wanna risk getting pulled over in the middle of the night. Also, the fresh air would hopefully make sure that we didn't stink of it once we got to our destination.

It was about four in the morning when we arrived at Mercedes' house and once I saw the light on up in the room that Matt pointed out was Mercedes', I could feel my hopes crash to the ground. I'd been silently telling myself that once we got there, it would be dark and all of the girls would be sleeping soundly.

But, judging from the light and the shadows moving behind the closed drapes, I just knew in my gut that I'd been right to come. "Come on Losers," I tossed over my shoulders and started climbing up to Mercedes' window, not really interested in trying to pick the front door's lock and sneak inside. I mean, Finn was with me and his ability to walk gracefully was almost non-existent on a normal day, I didn't want to risk it now that he was stoned. Fresh air or not.

Once I was at the window, I knocked quickly and could hear the surprised gasps coming from the room. A second later, Quinn's glaring face stared out on me. The moment she recognized me, her features melted into relief and I had just gotten my worst feelings confirmed. Fuck, why can't things just be quiet around here?

It didn't take long for Quinn and Mercedes to open the window and I have never gotten inside a girls room so fast before in my life; not even the time when Mrs. Crane from my Pool business days wanted to show me how her body could bend in various naughty ways.

I landed on the carpet with a soft bump and jumped to my feet, following Quinn's eye to a closed closet door. "She's in there," Mercedes told me needlessly. "We've only been allowed to bring her some water and a small jar of cocktail wienies. She keeps saying she's fine and that she just needs some time alone, but…"

"What happened?" I ignored Mercedes' ramble and let Matt take care of her as I glanced away from the closed closet door to Quinn.

"We went to Carmel," Quinn hurried to explain, taking a quick second to look reproachfully at Finn, who stumbled inside the room last, tripping gracelessly over Mike's crouching form. "Vocal Adrenaline was rehearsing and the coach started singing…and…" Trailing off, Quinn bit her lip.

"What?" I demanded to know, but Quinn didn't answer.

"I think it's best if she tells you herself."

"Fuck that shit," I practically growled, "just tell me what I'm dealing with here."

"The coach is Rachel's birthmother…"

We all stilled; us that didn't knew before, I mean. I vividly remembered the dazed, teary look that Rachel had given me only a few days prior when Jesse had screwed her over. Fuck, this was a whole other level of stress that would not be good for her.

Before Quinn or any of the others got a chance to say anything, I was opening the closet and sliding inside, slamming the door shut behind us, leaving me in semi darkness with Rachel's scent all around me.

I could see her shoulders relax the moment I was in there with her and it was like she'd been waiting for me, because in the next minute, Rachel looked up at me and it was light enough for me to see that her eyes were puffy and red from crying.

"Tell me everything," I pleaded softly, caressing her cheek with my thumb.

"Shelby Corcoran is my mother," Rachel whispered almost inaudibly. "But that's not the worst part, Noah."

I swallowed the sound echoing in the tiny space and I shifted uncomfortably, wanting nothing more than to take her in my arms and calm her down as she continued telling me everything.

"She took one look at me and looked up at Jesse and started yelling at him for not revealing my current status as a teen statistic. A little while later, she practically manhandled me to her office and began lecturing me on all the pro's of adoption although from what I could gather from her ramblings to Jesse previously, she had originally sent him to McKinley to seek me out and build a relationship with me that we don't have due to her own history of giving me away."

Rachel paused a bit before looking back up; the look in her dark eyes was almost breaking my heart. "She took one look at me and ultimately told me that she did not want to be a grandmother and sent me on my way. My mother is ashamed of me, Noah."

Somehow I managed to gather enough wits about me to pull Rachel's body closer to mine and I sat there, rocking her to sleep, letting her cry once more. I could hear the murmuring from the room and knew they'd heard everything, but I didn't care.

All I cared about was calming Rachel. It took a little while; the first rays of light came through the closet door before I could feel Rachel falling asleep in my arms. I awkwardly managed to get to my feet with her and then I walked out of the closet and placed her next to a now soundly sleeping Quinn, who was lying with an equally sleeping Finn behind her. Matt, Mike and Mercedes were lying in a heap on the floor with one huge blanket over them.

I made sure that Rachel was covered and kissed her forehead once more before I cracked my knuckles and exited the house.

I had me a Choir Coach to hunt down…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TWENTYONE

"Hey! I wanna talk to you!" I roared, startling my intended prey from a speech that she was giving to her choir on stage.

She turned towards me and I realized that I was sort of looking at Rachel, the woman that she'd turn into in another couple of years. Except for the fact that my girl's got a fucking heart, my conscience firmly reminded me and I was reminded of why I was even at McKinley in the first place.

"Excuse me?" Corcoran looked at me like I was gum under her shoe, although I did notice how her eyes trailed over my body like the other cougars I'd banged over the years. It seemed that women over thirty just couldn't resist the Puckasauraus.

I wasn't surprised.

"Who the hell do you think you are, Lady?" I practically growled, stomping my way closer to the bitch that had essentially broken my woman. "Spewing crap to Rach like you have any fucking right to even breathe the same air as her!"

Corcoran raised a perfectly sculptured eyebrow, and again I had to shake off mental images of Rachel's exact same expression. It became a lot easier once she started speaking.

"I assume you're talking about my daughter, Rachel?"

"You got no right to claim her as your kid, Lady – especially after the way you treated her! So I'm telling you to stay the hell away from her before I make sure you regret it!"

"Coming in here and spewing threats like a hoodlum is not very bright is it? I see that she didn't choose you for your brains." Corcoran's voice was cold as ice and legit, I was getting frostbite on my balls just listening to her.

I of course handled the whole thing with my usual grace and eloquence.

"Fuck you Lady."

Corcoran gasped exaggeratedly and I walked closer, ignoring the whispering of the choir behind her. I was badass, but I probably couldn't take them all at one time, so I decided to not get violent. Also, I didn't hit chicks, evil ones or not. Hell, if I did, don't you think Santana would have been a walking bruise during our brief stint of a relationship? Just sayin'.

"Just so you know, I am very good friends with the local police, and I doubt you'll enjoy fatherhood in prison."

I clenched my jaw briefly before exhaling all my rage. "Look, I don't care what you think about me or the whole teenage pregnancy thing; what I do care about is the fact that you made Rachel upset. She's always wanted a mother, if my own wasn't such a self-centered idiot most of the time, I'd offer mine, but…anyway," I quickly steered away from thoughts of Ma, who was more than likely sitting at home with my sister talking smack about me these days. "…anyway, I love Rachel and I might not be your ideal partner for her, but you have no right to say anything about that to her; particularly no right at all to judge her for being pregnant. That's our business and not yours. And it sure as hell ain't something that that pansy ass douche you sent to spy on us should worry about; fuck that whole thing was just another nail in your coffin."

Corcoransniffed; her eyes though, conveyed a tiny hint of insecurity that didn't match her words as she spoke, "You're just a boy. You have no idea what's in store for you later in life. You're letting her ruin her life too soon; you're leeching off of my kid and she's letting you do it with a smile. I will do whatever it takes to make her realize that the kid inside of her should be given away."

Hell no, she did not just threaten me! Instead of letting my resentment consume me, I took her call and raised the stakes with a smirk planted on my face. "I doubt Abraham and Hiram Berry will like the fact that you insulted their child, let alone talked to her without their approval. They know people too and I'm pretty sure they can get your ass fired or at least demoted for even breathing the same air as Rachel."

We stood in silence for a moment, staring coldly at each other and I gotta admit, seldom have I wanted to punch someone as much as I did at that moment. But Rachel's voice inside my head urged me to calm the fuck down, so I just took a deep breath and turned to leave.

"I love Rachel and I promise you that what I did to Jesse will be kid's play compared to what I'll do to you if you ever hurt her again."

Having said my peace and feeling a little bit proud for not smashing anything, I walked out of Carmel High and started walking back towards Mercedes' house. Halfway there, I belatedly realized that I had to walk past my own house to get there; apparently, I'd been so angry going to Carmel that I hadn't noticed on the way, but now my eyes were locked on the small house I'd grown up in.

There was light in the windows so I knew my mother was awake and probably doing her best to get Hannah moving too. The grass on the lawn was wilting and way too long; it used to be one of my chores to mow the lawn and unexpectedly, I felt guilty for leaving even more work for my already stressed out mother.

Before I knew it, I'd made my way over to the garage and was pulling the almost antique looking lawnmower out to do at least one decent thing for once.

It didn't take more than maybe half a minute of my turning on the machine and beginning my self-appointed task before Ma opened the front door and came bursting out with a bat in her hands. I recognized it as my own and swallowed a smile, remembering one day long ago when I'd shown her how to use it to the best advantage if something or someone was freaking her out. In that case, I was making sure her new boyfriend would get a smack down of epic proportions if he ever laid a hand on my mother like my dad used to do.

A second after, Ma recognized me and the bat tumbled to the ground with a loud clunk that quickly drowned in the loud sound from the lawnmower in front of me.

"Noah?"

Shit, the hopeful tone in her voice went straight to my heart, but I squashed it before it got too big, I was still pissed at her and I told her that.

Her hazel eyes, so like mine, darkened with obvious sadness for a moment before she could control it. Then she smiled hesitantly at me and nodded with her chin at the rumbling lawnmower; "Thanks for doing this; I honestly didn't know how I was gonna find the time for it. Hannah offered, but…well, you know."

Again, I had to swallow a grin; yeah, I knew. My kid sister was a lot of things, but able to handle machines…not so much. It was like they could sense her reluctance and something always went wrong. I still grinned whenever I remembered the summer when she'd decided to make milkshakes with our new blender and ended up running screaming out of the kitchen, saying that it was out to get her.

In the end I just nodded, the tension in the air was palpable and I honestly didn't know what to say to the woman in front of me. She'd let me down too many times; I mean, I loved her, but love can only do so much, right?

Besides, I had my own kid to worry about and I didn't want to risk another crazy grandparent bringing toxic feelings into the mix.

Shelby Corcoran's superior face flew through my mind, and again, I had to exhale forcibly to make sure my temper didn't get the best of me. Ma's voice brought me back to the present.

"S-So, how's Rachel? I can pack a bag of fresh clothes for you, if you need 'em?"

I shrugged; I could definitely use some new clothes. I was alternating between the same four outfits these days and Hiram had hinted something about a shopping trip, so I was willing to accept help from anyone to avoid that crap.

Fortunately, Ma knew me well enough to know that I was agreeing, so she quickly went back inside and I continued mowing the lawn. A few minutes later, I was done and my mother was back, carrying a large bag that was stuffed with clothes.

"I think we should talk, Noah," she started after I'd put the lawnmower back in the garage and held out my hand for the bag. "I-I realize that-"

"Don't, Ma," I interrupted, taking the bag from her unmoving hands. "Yeah, we need to talk, but I've got enough shit going on right now that's frankly more important. You're disappointed in me, I get it. You think I'm a screw up like my dad despite everything I've ever done over the years, but…well, anyway. I don't wanna get into it right now."

Unsaid, it was like we could both hear my silently added words of, 'or ever', because my mother's eyes darkened once again and she no longer wanted to meet my gaze. Before she could say anything, my phone suddenly beeped and I took it out and saw an incoming message, from Quinn of all people.

'Get over here ASAP, R freaking out!'

"Look, I gotta split," I was already moving before I'd finished reading the text and I pretended I didn't hear my mother's half-cry of my name as I started running the last distance to Mercedes' place.

Even before I reached her house, I could hear voices. One in particular stood out; Rachel was yelling and cussing like she was my long lost twin or something.

It would seem that her shock had worn off and instead of succumbing to depression because of Shelby's words, she was overcome with rage and paternal anger at the mere thought of someone insulting her child.

"…hands off of me, Finn or else I swear the probability of you producing another offspring will drastically decrease. Let the fuck go!"

I burst through the front door in the next minute and almost barreled right into a ring of people that seemed to have taken up guard to prevent the tiny, raging diva from finding her biological mother and well…ending her.

I didn't get a chance to do much of anything because right then, Rachel's brown eyes locked on me and her volume increased even more.

"And You! Where have you been? Have you any idea how it felt for me to wake up completely alone, surrounded by people that too were completely ignorant of your whereabouts? You imbecile!"

Then she twisted out of Finn's grip and ran towards me and a second later, the room echoed with the sound of the slap that she gave me. I'll tell you this much; Diva might be small, but she packs a hell of a lot of heat. My head snapped sideways and instantly, my cheek started burning. My eyes started to water reflexively at the stinging pain, but luckily for my man-card, I'd had much worse over the years, so I just blinked and the pansy ass tears disappeared.

On the inside, I was torn. I knew that leaving her without a note or anything probably wasn't the smartest idea in the world after the night she'd had. But the other part of me that was more childish was roaring in anger at being hit by the one person that I fully trusted to always have my back.

I slowly turned my head back to its original place and stared silently at a completely shocked looking Rachel. The other people present didn't register in my mind at that moment, all I saw was her.

Her eyes, unlike mine, were overflowing with tears that ran silently down her flushed cheeks and she was holding her hands in front of her mouth in the standard 'shock-pose' and her breathing was uneven, like she was choking back sobs.

I just kept staring at her in silence. Finally, after what seemed like a fucking lifetime, I asked quietly, "Are you done?"

Rachel blinked out of her dazed state of mind, the moment my voice reached her and she wiped her eyes with as much dignity as she could, looking like a deranged mess. I looked over at Quinn, my anger apparently still simmering in my eyes, because she flinched when I met her eyes.

"Take her home and fix her up, will ya? Tell Abraham that I need to talk to him about Cochran later today."

Then I looked over at Finn, Matt and Mike, who were all standing so still that they looked like they were made of wood. "Would you mind seeing them home?"

They all nodded and I turned around to leave before my own temper snapped. It had had a big workout in containment already today and although logically I knew it was Rachel's hormones that were acting out of whack because of her emotional distress; I still couldn't keep my own hurt from escaping, especially if I didn't get out of her reach for a little while.

I'd just walked through the still open front door, when I felt slim arms wrap themselves around my waist and I felt Rachel's body melt into my back, the baby bump hitting my lower back quite insistently; obviously, she had no intentions of letting go of me.

"Noah, " Rachel's warm breath filtered through my cotton shirt and burned my skin. "I'm so-"

"Yeah," I interrupted tiredly, taking a gentle, but firm hold of her arms and wrenching them off of me. "I know."

Then I held up one of her small hands and kissed it softly in the palm, before walking away as fast as I possibly could.

0o0o0

I didn't return to the Berry household until late that night; I'd just walked around the neighborhood all day, beating out my anger on a few unsuspecting trees. As I walked through the door, I was mentally and physically exhausted and I was in a much more stable mood.

The first thing I realized when I walked inside was the fact that Hiram was waiting up for me. The small, significantly Jewish looking dude was sitting at the kitchen counter, reading a medical journal with a cup of coffee in front of him and I felt kind of bad, 'cause I knew the guy already got little sleep as it was and didn't need to wait up for my sorry ass.

Also, I have to admit I was a bit surprised that he was the one waiting for me. Ultimately, I'd expected Abraham, 'cause he was the one that I had the closest relationship too, aside from Rach, of course. I could see the bigger guy's silhouette in the living room, sitting with a concentrated look at the table, but he didn't acknowledge my arrival, I doubt he even realized I was back.

Hiram brought me out of my musings by speaking a second later. "Evening," the smaller man greeted me and nodded towards the coffeepot, silently offering me a cup. I took one and sat down next to him with a sigh, waiting for the inevitable shit to hit the fan. He already hated my guts so I was pretty sure I knew that I was in trouble for causing Rachel anymore distress.

Well, once again, I had to pick up my jaw from the floor so to speak, because Hiram did the last thing I ever expected. He smiled at me; he fucking smiled. Like he was happy to see me or something like that.

"I'm happy you didn't stay away all night, Son. I guess Abraham was right when he said you weren't as immature as I first feared."

I took a sip of coffee, not really knowing how to respond to another guy taking me into his family, albeit just in words. I guess my bewildered expression must have tipped Hiram off, 'cause he just smiled enigmatically and started speaking again.

"Rachel's asleep; I had to force her to stop waiting up for you. She sincerely regrets her emotional outburst today. Between you and me, I must admit that I'm surprised you lasted this long without taking a metaphorical timeout."

I raised my eyebrows questioningly and he quickly added, with another friendly smile that was beginning to freak me out a little bit, "You've been running yourself ragged for months now, taking care of not one, but two highly complicated pregnant girls, letting them order you around without once retaliating and I've seen some of the worst tantrums that Rachel has thrown at you as her hormonal imbalance affect her mood and never once have you gotten angry or upset with her. Frankly, I'm surprised that you've lasted this long, and even then, according to the girls, you only left after making sure Rachel was taken proper care off. That tells me that you're a lot more suited for my daughter than I originally suspected."

Damn, I guess I finally knew where Rachel got her long speeches from.

Hiram didn't seem to care about my thoughts on the matter, because he quietly continued talking. "I haven't always been on your side, because no father likes the idea of his child growing up too soon. And we both know your reputation in the community isn't exactly that of a saint, don't we?"

I couldn't stop smiling at that and Hiram matched it with a grin and for the first time I sort of got what Abraham saw in the little dude. He practically lit up from within when he smiled; just like Rachel.

"But, I'm slowly coming around." Hiram stood up, stretching with a groan; evidently, he'd been waiting for me a bit longer than I thought.

I nodded my thanks and after rinsing my cup, I slowly made my way up to Rachel's room. Or, I guess our room if you wanted to get technical.

I couldn't see light from under the door and I sincerely hoped that she was fast asleep; she needed it more than ever after these couple of days. As silently as I could, I walked inside, undressed and slipped into the bed.

The glow stars on her ceiling, created a soft light that cast a beautiful shine on my girl and I could feel all of my tension ebb out of me. I smiled as the anger and hurt finally vanished completely, despite knowing that I had needed my time alone to come to the conclusion that I really wasn't angry at her, just a little bit hurt and surprised. Also, my previous encounter with Shelby Corcoran had probably made me a lot more pissed than I'd originally thought.

That reminded me that I still had to talk to Abraham and I started sitting up to go find him, before he went to sleep for the night; I knew that he was still more than likely cooped up in the living room, still struggling with finishing Rachel's Lady Gaga outfit.

Just as I sat up and was grasping for a shirt, Rachel's body turned around and she sat up herself. "Please don't leave me, Noah. I'm sincerely sorry for my outburst and show of violence earlier. I know that what I did was horribly wrong and that you're more than likely tempted to walk out on me and just concentrate your future efforts on our child, but I'm begging you to reconsider and not leave me, because I don't think I could handle it."

I turned around to face her and took her head in my hands. I kissed the tip of her special, but beautiful nose, and smiled softly at her. "Berry, there's no way in hell that I'll ever leave you. Not even if you tell me to. I love you too fucking much to even think about walking out on you. I just needed some time to cool off; it's been a pretty heavy day so I didn't want to bring it home with me. I was just gonna find Abraham to talk about what happened when I confronted your mom that's all. I was coming right back."

Rachel stared at me with her big brown eyes wide open; the glow from the plastic stars glinting in her eyes, giving them an almost angelic look. "Say that again, please."

I frowned, "Uhm, I was gonna tell your dad all about what a bitch Cochran was to you and how she acted when I talked to her. I can give you the details tomorrow, if you'd like?"

"No, Noah," Rachel smiled, her hands planting themselves on top of mine as she spoke, "please repeat the fact that your feelings for me have transformed into something more than friendship."

Shit, my heart started racing, I'd told her I loved her, blurted it out unceremoniously like a fucking asshat with none of that cheesy romance stuff that she loved so much to set the mood. Now she'd probably be pissed about my lack of ability to put up a decent performance or something like that.

Although, I looked closer, now that I thought about it, she didn't look mad. In fact, her entire face was filled with this look that I recognized as hope and I hesitantly repeated my earlier words. "Uhm…I love you."

Rachel's smile turned into a beaming grin that tore at my heart, making it dance in an unstable rhythm. It felt kindda nice actually. Then something even better happened and Rachel's soft lips slanted themselves on top of mine and my thoughts turned into mush.

After what felt like only seconds, but could've been hours for all I knew, Rachel pulled back and caressed my cheek. "In case it has escaped your notice, I feel that I must confess that my emotions towards you are of the exact same nature."

"Huh?" I was still off in LaLa land and not really in any state of mind to decipher Rachel Berry speak at the moment.

Rachel smiled again and leaned forward again and repeated quietly, "I love you too, Noah Puckerman."

Now that I understood and I proceeded to show her just how much I appreciated her honesty. My talk with Abraham would have to wait until the next morning before school…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TWENTYTWO

"So Dude, what are we gonna do?" Finn's voice barely reached me through the haze of fury that had been dimming everything else in me since I'd walked out to that parking lot to see my girl covered in eggs.

But, I guess I'm jumping ahead a little too far for you to get what I mean. Well, it all started after a relatively quiet and peaceful week. I say relatively, 'cause after we pranced around like idiots doing kickass numbers from Kiss and Lady Gaga, we all had a motherfucking epic stare down with two of Beyonce's main bullies.

Suffice to say, we Gleeks stand together and even though I had felt a bit hypocritical promising some punches to my former friends for doing the exact same thing I used to do, I was legitimately pissed that people didn't seem to see what an awesome guy Kurt really was; no matter how much makeup the dude wore.

Anyway, after that, Rachel and I kept doing what we'd been doing ever since we'd said how we truly felt about each other and that was locking lips whenever possible. Being in love had its definite perks and I didn't even care how pussy whipped it made me seem when I eagerly fetched food in the cafeteria for Rachel, beaming like an idiot when she kissed me for my troubles. There was some groping too but that all happened under the tables; although, now that I think about it, I did get some knowing looks from Santana and Quinn.

Back to the story though, things started going haywire when suddenly, Vocal Adrenaline lead by St. Douche himself showed up and performed for us, doing their best to psyche us out. Although, I have to admit I was feeling a little inferior to the massive amounts of talent that jackass had, it felt good to see him flinch away from me whenever his eyes landed on me.

Once we'd exchanged some insults and what not, we all headed back to the choir room to find that with a little help from Sue Sylvester, Vocal Adrenaline had TP'ed the entire room and left us to deal with the clean up.

Fuckers.

To be honest, I kind of thought it was funny, I mean, the attempts to get us all down were laughable. But sadly, in some instances it worked. Brittany was crying on Matt's shoulder, muttering about all the little toilet fairies that had nowhere to go after all the spoiled toilet paper. She's lucky she's hot, that's all I'm sayin'.

Santana and surprisingly Tina were cussing as they started ripping the white paper down from the chairs as the first ones and we all followed suit after that, determined to clean the place up.

But, like I said, I still thought it was kindda funny the way the other choir was trying to intimidate us. Hell, even Rachel could see the flattery in their blatant attempt at procuring our fears for the upcoming competition. Her words, not mine in case you were wondering.

Still, she had to resort to some major flaunting of her womanly goods, if you catch my drift, to make me reconsider going over to Carmel and flatten all of those tires on those pretty Range Rovers that I'd seen in the parking lot the day I went over and confronted Corcoran.

But, I wasn't really mad, just pumped up for some good natured retaliation, Puck style.

Then things changed and it went from funny to downright dangerous for my blood pressure.

It all started one day, a few days after the TP'ing incident. Artie, Matt, Mike, Finn and I were fooling around, strumming our guitars (or in Matt and Mike's case break dancing to the rhythm). The girls, sans Rachel and Quinn, who were out spending their lunch break looking at baby clothes again, were chatting amiably over by the chairs and moving sensually to the music we were making.

Suddenly, the door to the choir room burst open and Quinn came wobbling in, hands protecting her precious cargo, her blonde hair flying in every direction and her eyes looked wild.

I was already throwing my usually so cherished guitar in Mike's face and moving towards the exit as Quinn quickly explained, "The Carmel choir waited for us outside, then they started throwing eggs!"

I doubt I've ever run as fast as I did then, speeding outside to do my damndest to protect Rachel. Except, just as I rounded the last corner to the parking lot, I realized that I was too late and more importantly, that Rachel didn't need rescuing this time.

Covered in yokes and eggshells, surrounded by Vocal Adrenaline members, Rachel was staring furiously at a downed Jesse, who was clutching his groin like his life depended on it. Without thinking, I ran through the crowd and towards Rachel.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly all right Noah," Rachel replied, never taking her eyes away from her downed target, who was still moaning softly in agony on the ground. "I suggest you and your hoodlum friends take your business elsewhere. I shall not be intimidated by your childish provocative endeavors. If you do not vacate the premises as fast as you're able in your current condition, Jesse, I promise you that I shall show you that a kick in the groin is nothing compared to two such kicks!"

I nodded with a fierce scowl to the other Vocal Adrenaline members that were still standing around; looking completely flabbergasted over how much their plan seemed to have backfired on them. But, it didn't take them all long to realize that my girl meant business. Also, the remaining members of New Directions approaching with matching scowls seemed to kick them into gear too.

Rachel stood immobile, silently watching that the other choir members did as they were told. Her hands were splashed across her big belly and I'd be lying if I didn't think it was kind of hot to see her temper flare at someone else for a change.

Then, just as the last of the shiny cars disappeared from sight, Rachel blinked and her entire persona changed. It seemed like only a second passed, before she was hurling herself at me, practically wailing in despair over the tiny little babies that had perished on her head. She was completely inconsolable.

As I stood there, arms wrapped around a sobbing Rachel, my temper flared and I looked around and spotted Karofsky of all people standing on the edge of the crowd that had gathered to see if anything interesting had happened.

"You! What the fuck happened?" I asked, more or less growling.

Karofsky shrugged, his eyes lingering on Rachel in my arms with an almost reluctant respect shining through his usually so glaring face. "Those pansies called her out; she told Fabray to head inside and then walked over to them. Then they started throwing eggs at her and she just stood there while that curly haired asshole talked to her. Next thing I know, she'd kneed him in the balls and then you showed up."

"And you didn't think it'd be a big fucking idea to go help her before she was pummeled with eggs?"

Rachel wailed louder at my question, sobbing something with baby chicks and their brutal revenge from heaven or some crazy shit like that.

"Look Man," Karofsky bit his lip, not quite meeting my eyes. "I wasn't fast enough, all right? I might be a jack ass, but I wouldn't attack a pregnant chick, okay? You know that…"

His tone of voice was completely different from the self assured bully that he'd turned into after taking my place at the bully top at school; for the first time in months, Karofsky reminded me of that kid I used to hang out with whenever Finn wasn't around. Hell, I'd even preferred Karofsky's company at times because…well, he wasn't dumb as a doornail when it came to other chicks, despite his clear reluctance to share any intimate details with me.

I guess I was glad to see that he hadn't completely vanished under the peer pressure. I nodded my apology at him and turned my attention back to Rachel, who was clutching my shirt like it was a fucking lifeline.

"Come on, Babe," I whispered softly in her ear, "let's get you cleaned up." My burning rage and need for revenge was pushed in the background when she looked up at me with tearful eyes and nodded. Mutely, I wiped away a tear for her and took her hand, gently leading her inside to the locker rooms.

Once in there, I was met by Kurt, Quinn, Tina and Mercedes. They silently held out several towels, shampoos and general hair care products (some I'm sure came from Kurt's private stash from his locker). They took up guard outside the door, making sure that Rachel and I could have our privacy as she got cleaned up.

0o0o0

Later that day, I drove Rachel and Quinn home, with Finn sitting in the back as well. Evidently, he didn't dare leave her side in fear of her being targeted next. I could respect that.

Neither of the daddy Berry's were home, so I took Rachel's hand, told Quinn to keep Finn from eating everything in the fridge this time and walked towards our room.

Once inside, I tenderly planted Rachel on the bed and sat down behind her with my legs on each side of hers. My hands went to her stomach where our kid was surprisingly still for once. Maybe it knew enough to not annoy the seething mother?

I rested my head on Rachel's shoulder and just sat with her in silence. My insides still twisted with rage and I kept jumping from different plans to deal with those bastards without really settling on any real plan. It was Rachel's soft snore that alerted me to the fact that my silent attempt at comfort had worked better than expected and she'd fallen asleep.

Slowly, inch by inch, I started moving away from her and when I eventually was standing on my own two feet again, I took off the comforter on the bed and placed it over Rachel, smiling a bit when a snore was caught off midway by a passing of gas moment. It was very rare that Rachel passed gas around me and she kept on insisting that it was only something vile people of the male origin did to amuse themselves, so I enjoyed the proof and silently vowed to tell her about it at a later time.

Sighing, I rubbed my neck and swallowed back the desire to join Rachel on the bed for the unmanliest of unmanly things; a fucking snuggle. Instead, I made my way back downstairs to Finn and Quinn.

Quinn was sleeping too with her head resting on Finn's lap and I walked by the kitchen, grabbed one of those healthy as fuck sandwiches that Hiram always had stashed away in the back of the fridge, or at least, since he realized that I secretly loved them and then I sat down in the recliner next to Finn and ate in silence.

With every bite, my earlier anger at Jesse and the rest of the choir and hell, even Shelby Corcoran, seemed to grow and I think I might have growled a little as my teeth teared into the soft bread, 'cause Finn sent me a questioning look that had a hint of trepidation in it.

The silence was starting to get pretty heavy when Finn finally lost his patience and turned his head to me and asked with a serious gleam in his eyes, "So Dude, what are we gonna do?"

The anger that had been simmering under my skin since I'd seen Rachel covered in eggs, burned bright again and I clenched my jaw so hard that I swear some of my teeth started cracking in protest. "I wanna kick their asses so hard that it'll pop out through their mouths." I muttered.

Finn nodded, "yeah me too…but…uhm," his eyes travelled down to the sleeping Quinn, "I don't think violence is the way to go here…I mean; Rachel doesn't really like it, even though she sure didn't seem like it today."

I couldn't contain my smirk at the memory of just how appreciative Rach had been of violence, but then I got serious again, knowing that for once, Finn actually had a point. I know; it shocked me too!

"I want to do something that's really going to get them down – I just can't show up at Carmel again; for one, it's on their turf and secondly, Corcoran will definitely get me arrested if I threaten her choir just before Regionals."

"That's true," Finn agreed, "we just gotta try to be responsible here; we can't resort to beating stuff up every time things don't go our way. I mean, I don't want that for our kids, so it'd be hypo…uhm, you know not good."

"Fuck this sucks," I groaned, slamming my head backwards, but it didn't really give off any satisfactory sound due to the soft pillow behind my head so I just settled for closing my eyes, trying my damndest to come up with an idea.

"There's something quite obvious that you haven't even considered." Quinn's voice suddenly sounded and both Finn and I acted like total pussies and flinched.

Trying to cover it up, I ran a hand through my stubbles on my head, missing the 'hawk more than ever, and looked at her now wide open eyes with what I hope was a superior look. "Oh yeah? What's that, Fabray?"

"Talk to Rachel's dads. I don't know who will react more. Abraham or Hiram, but I do know that they'll both explode when they find out what happened today."

We were so lost in our conversation that neither one of us had heard the front door open and it was just typical that Abraham Berry overheard Quinn's last statement.

"What happened today kids?"

Quinn and Finn both looked at me, clearly expecting me to be the bearer of bad news. Judging from the fierce look in Abraham's dark eyes, I probably needed a body armor of some kind so that he didn't accidentally kill the messenger.

Summoning up my courage, I silently reminded myself that I was a fucking Man with a capital M and that I should just spill the beans. So, after a quick prayer to man upstairs, I got up and proceeded to do just that.

To say Abram wasn't pleased would be an understatement of the century…

0o0o0

After Abraham flew through the roof, making me pretty fucking happy that I wasn't the one on his shit list, Quinn went up to spend some time with Finn and I went back up to Rachel.

I decided that I wanted her day to end on a good note, so I woke her up using my mouth and my fingers, if you catch my drift. She did smile a lot more after that, so overall it worked like a charm.

The next day, when we got downstairs for breakfast before school, we discovered from a still seething Abraham that he'd located every parent of every member of Vocal Adrenaline, informing them of what had transpired and that he would personally see to it that each kid would pay dearly for doing something so despicable to a girl, a pregnant one at that.

Also, Abraham mentioned just as we were leaving, that he'd talked to Shelby Corcoran and told her in no uncertain terms that should she or any of her team members ever get within the same room as Rachel again when it wasn't necessary for competition reasons, he would get her ass fired faster than she could spell her own name.

And knowing Abraham as well as I did these days, I had no doubt that he meant every word of it.

When I pulled into the parking lot at McKinley High a little while later, I was pretty confused to see Karofsky standing alongside Matt and Mike, seemingly waiting for us. Rachel noticed Karofsky's presence as well and frowned at me. "What do you think he wants, Noah? I honestly don't think that I'm feeling up to yet another confrontation so soon."

"Don't worry, Babe, let me just go check what's going on."

She smiled and kissed my cheek with gratitude before I left the truck and made my way over to my two friends and the guy I used to call one.

"What's up, Guys?" Even I could hear the cautiousness in my voice and I cursed inwardly for showing my feelings so openly.

Surprisingly, it was Matt that spoke up and answered me. "Figured we'd back you up until Regionals is over. Can't watch Rachel twenty four seven after all."

Damn, I was actually pretty touched and if I didn't want to lose any cool points by, I don't know, hugging the life out of them, I had better try to pull myself together. "Oh," was all I came up with in the end.

Mike stepped closer, nodding in Karofsky's direction. "It was sort of Dave's idea. So, he's agreed to stop the slushy attacks, at least until after Regionals."

I looked at Karofsky, who looked almost sheepish in return. "I can't promise anything from the others, but I'll stop…for now," he added, throwing in his customary glower and I grinned like a fucking retard.

He continued with a bit more sincerity in his voice. "I know I'm not exactly a good person, but like I said yesterday; not even I would attack a pregnant chick…Stop looking at me like that you stupid Gleek."

As he turned, I noticed the small grin adjourning his features and I had a feeling that maybe, Karofsky wasn't so bad after all. "Hey, Dave!" I called out to him, forcing him to stop.

"What?"

"Thanks Man."

"Stop being such a homoexplosion," was all he said before he left and I amended silently that perhaps Karofsky had a bit too many layers for me to really figure out at that moment. Instead, I turned to my truck and helped Rachel out, grabbed her poor excuse of a school bag and walked with her inside, hand in hand, ready for another day.

In the end, it was a pretty decent day. Somehow when I arrived at the choir room later that afternoon from a talk with one of my teachers (he fucking thought I was cheating since my grades kept going up – asshole), I discovered that Rachel, Kurt, Brittany and Santana of all people had put together a kickass number that should hopefully funkify Vocal Adrenaline a bit.

It turned out to be an awesome performance, although Rachel and I delivered our usual round of amusement for the other Gleeks when I refused to let her participate in the vigorous dancing on stage, my protective instincts too big to ignore. Fortunately, Rachel didn't have the energy to fight me too hard and I ended up getting my way.

She was still in the act though, I wouldn't dream of trying to stop that; hell, she trotted out on stage in front of St. Hurting Ball sack and the others and introduced us like a fucking pro before daintily sitting down on a chair that had been placed on stage beforehand to sing along with us and watch with happiness shining out of her as we performed, 'Funk'.

Quinn proved to me a few minutes into the song, that pregnant girls can dance and look all kinds of hot while doing so and I knew that if it hadn't been for the danger to our kid, Rachel would have been right there beside her and bringing it too.

I danced towards her and made damn sure she was included too; I even kissed her and was so caught up in the moment that I barely noticed the end of the song. To cover up my inattentiveness, I helped Rachel to her feet, slung my arm around her and casually told the douches that we'd see them at Regionals.

I couldn't wait to show them up there too. 'Cause New Directions fucking ruled!

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TWENTYTHREE

"This looks so wonderful," Rachel's voice interrupted my work and I looked up from where I was crouched, trying to paint some of those ugly ass baby things that any self-respecting nursery should have.

She was standing in the doorway, her beautiful brown eyes taking everything in. I'd forbidden her from entering until now due to the paint fumes and shit, so she hadn't seen it in all its glory until now. Since I didn't knew the sex of my baby yet, I'd painted the walls a soft green color and the crib, that Abraham and I had cussed over like idiots until surprisingly, Hiram had stepped in and fixed it like a fucking pro, was painted in another green color to match.

Teddy bears, toys and oceans of clothes were strewn throughout the room, since I knew Rach well enough to know that no matter what I did, she'd just rearrange it all so it fit her needs, so why bother in the first place?

Rachel didn't seem to mind though; no, her eyes were lit up and her beaming smile made my heart flutter like I was some dorky loser. But I didn't care, I loved it when she smiled at me and was happy to boot. She fucking deserved it considering what she'd gone through lately.

"Once we're settled in New York, I absolutely insist that you redo our baby's room there as well."

"Well, you know," I got up, ignoring the creaks in my limbs from crouching for so long, "I'd be happy to, but I wouldn't know what color to use; so why don't you let me know if I should buy blue or pink? I'd like to stay on top of things, you know, to plan it in advance like you always say is important…"

Rachel shook her head and practically smirked at me – obviously, I'd been having too much of a bad influence on her. It was hot.

"I honestly have no idea why you keep on trying to lure out the answer about our child's sex Noah, when we've already agreed to let it be a surprise."

"Yeah, a surprise for me, since you already know," I mock complained, not even mad, 'cause seriously, we like had this discussion twice a day now. But I was planning something…

"Good things come to those who wait," Rachel lectured and held out a hand for me. "Anyway, Daddy sent me to tell you that dinner is ready. Between you and me, I have a sneaking suspicion that he's trying to slowly convince Dad to eat meat again since he's cooked more than enough to feed a small army."

"I don't blame him; Dude's gotta be hard in the head to stop eating steaks. I mean, steaks are like a necessary survival kit for human men. We need steaks like you chicks need, I don't know, boobs."

"You're ridiculous Noah," Rachel nudged me as we walked downstairs to the kitchen. "And honestly, I haven't seen Daddy waver in his decision to go vegan this much since he started being one due to Dad's tastes. I think you're having a bad influence on him."

"Oh?" I wrapped my arms around Rachel's expanded waist, staring at her pregnant belly, "and having you sneak in hamburgers and shit and obviously enjoying it, has had absolutely nothing to do with it."

"Noah, we agreed to pretend that my dietary instabilities would go unmentioned," Rachel hissed as she sat down in front of Abraham, who was eying my juicy steak like a man dying of thirst.

When, a few minutes later, Hiram and Rachel were both preoccupied with some boring chit chat about some even lamer musical, I turned to Abraham and promised to drop by his office tomorrow with some homemade steaks ala Puckster.

If I wasn't already sure that Abraham was one hundred percent in love with Hiram, I would've thought he'd gone gay for me, judging from the thankful look he gave me at my promise. Yup, I was totally accepted into the Berry fold and I loved every second of it.

0o0o0

A few days later, Rachel and I had just come home from an evening at Mr. Shue's place. All the other members had been there too; it had been a wholly depressing evening to be honest.

Apparently, Coach Sylvester had managed to score the gig as judge at Regionals so we were pretty much doomed and if we didn't get first or second place, Figgins would cancel our club. It sucked.

But, I wasn't gonna go down without a fight and once Rachel was lying in bed next to me, I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her neck. "We're not gonna lose, Babe," I whispered, "You're taking us all to the top, I just know it. And if we lose for some lame reason, I'm gonna kick Coach Sylvester's bony ass for you."

Rachel chuckled and turned to look at me, "However much I appreciate your willingness to commit a violent crime for me, yet again, Noah, I must decline. I'll admit that I was horribly insecure about my abilities earlier tonight, but I have found my second wind as it were and will, like you say, take us all to the top. If nothing else," Rachel's eyes flashed with a seldom seen anger, "I need to show Jesse and my mother that I'm perfectly fine without either of them in my life. Are you listening to me?"

"Totally," I replied, my voice a little muffled as I made my way down Rachel's body. It didn't matter how big she got, I still thought she was hotter than hell and well…I had been busy with the nursery for a couple of days and I had me some man needs.

Fortunately, Rachel's libido still seemed to respond eagerly at my advances and before long I was sliding into her warm heat with a satisfied groan. "Fuck, Babe, I'm gonna miss this after the birth."

"I-I'm hopeful that," Rachel closed her eyes and lifted her leg more to give me a better access from the side, "I will still enjoy sex after I've given birth. All the doctors say that my lack of desire will only be temporary. Oh, right there, Baby…"

I could feel her growing closer to the edge and suddenly, I remembered that idea I'd had a few days ago and realized this was the perfect time to execute it. And so, just as she was about to enter Orgasmville, I stopped moving (I swallowed a groan at that, 'cause that might have been the fucking hardest thing I've ever done).

"Noah, what's wrong? Why are you s-stopping?" Rachel turned her head and looked at me, the haze of lust still apparent in her brown eyes.

"I wanna know if I'm having a son or a daughter."

Rachel blinked her features morphing into annoyance at being denied her release. "Are you serious?"

"Oh yeah, totally," I answered and gave an experimental thrust of my hips; drawing out a moan from Rachel's pouting lips.

"T-this won't work you know," she informed me, trying to act like she wasn't desperate for me to move. "I have no intention what so ever to fall for your devious if, slightly immature –ohmygod!"

I started moving rapidly, my own body betraying me when she clenched her internal muscles around me. "Tell me, Rach. I really fucking want to know!"

A few more erratic thrusts and I came with a delicious shudder, just as I added a groaning, "Please Babe."

Rachel followed suit seconds after that and we lay gasping together for a few moments. I was too satisfied to feel too bummed about my lack of success in finding out what sex my kid had and I silently resigned myself to trying again the next day.

Then to my utter surprise, Rachel turned around and met my eyes for a minute before murmuring the answer to me and I grinned like a fucking loon. Holy shit, it was gonna be so awesome!

0o0o0

Holy shit, it was gonna suck!

The next day, the last before our trip to the competition, I was walking down the school's hallway and looking at all of my fellow students; fuck they were all horny teenagers! How was I ever gonna stop my kid from growing up to be a horny teenager; there were Puckerman genes involved after all.

"Hey Man," Finn greeted me out of the blue when I was standing in line in the cafeteria for some meatballs and spaghetti for Rachel.

I suddenly remembered what Quinn had told me once upon a time and whirled around to look my best friend in the eye. "How are we gonna handle this?"

"Uhm," Finn scratched his head with a confused expression, "we wait until it's our turn to pay?" He gestured to the lunch lady, who was sending me evil looks; she still hadn't forgiven me for screwing her surprisingly young looking mother a few years back. I always bought something that was already made when she was behind the counter, 'cause, other people's saliva in my food ain't the way to go, if you know what I mean.

"Funny Dickwad," I paid for the food, ignored the glare the lunch lady sent me and turned towards Rachel, who was sitting talking amiably with Mercedes and Quinn. "No, I meant, how are we gonna handle having kids that's eventually gonna grow up with vaginas?"

"Uhm…"Finn's brows furrowed as he tried to see my point. Irritated, I slapped him on the shoulder.

"Focus Man!"

We'd reached the girls' table and Quinn looked at me with a warning in her eyes (she always just seemed to know when I was insulting Finn, it was pretty fucking annoying) while Mercedes turned to Rachel. "Okay, mind letting a girl know why your Boo is all panicked looking? It ain't a good look on him."

Rachel rolled her eyes and took the tray out of my hands and answered casually before digging in like she'd been starved for weeks and not like, you know, thirty minutes.

"I'd assume it's due to the fact that Noah is only now beginning to realize that he's going to be the father of a teenage girl at some point in the future. He's more than likely begun to understand that he's going to endure boys like himself showing up at our doorstep, asking to date his daughter."

"Oh, well sucks to be you," Mercedes said teasingly at me and then her eyes widened and she whipped her head back in Rach's direction so fast it's a wonder her neck didn't snap. "Whoa, hold up for a sec, you're having a girl like Quinn? That's so awesome!"

"Yeah, fucking great," I muttered, admittedly not too loud, 'cause I'm pretty sure the girls would unite and kill my sorry ass. In return, Finn looked more and more concerned about the whole daughter thing too. He kept smiling hesitantly at Quinn and glancing at me with true fear dawning in his eyes.

Good, at least I'd have someone on my side when I kicked the snot out of any punk that'd even look at my baby girl!

Rachel's warm touch on my leg brought me back to the present and I looked over at her and immediately calmed down a little bit when her soft gaze met mine, even as she was smiling brightly at whatever girlish thing that Mercedes was saying. Suddenly, it was like I just knew that even if tons of dudes like me were ever to get past my guns and genuine awesomeness, Rachel would have my back too.

Hell, she'd probably get the guy to submit faster than me in any case and in a much more lasting way as well. I mean, she made me settle down and despite the fact that I've barely just turned seventeen we all know my reputation…

So, pushing my future father duties to the back of my mind, I smiled back at my girl and turned to yell for Mike and Matt to get their asses over to me, so we could discuss that lame ass game that'd been on last night that I'd snuck downstairs to watch on Abraham's huge plasma TV when images of faceless dudes porking my daughter kept interfering with my sleep.

Finn on the other hand wasn't so lucky; he was starting to look pretty freaked out all of the sudden and when lunch break ended, he all but ran to Figgins, muttering something about trying to bring back gender separated classes.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TWENTYFOUR

"Oh Hells to the no Soprano Boy," I heard Mercedes screech and I immediately turned around from peeping at Rach getting into her cute little dress, 'cause I knew that was what the girls had been calling Jesse since Rachel had kicked him in the sack.

And true enough, there he was, standing by the door to the green room and I vaguely heard him ask for Rachel, his tone of voice hard to determine from so far off.

I barely restrained myself from pushing Mercedes into the wall in my haste to get to Jesse. Hell, I was really fucking close to just let my fists do the talking and pummel the son of a bitch like he deserved; groin pains or not.

"What the fuck are you even doing here?" I spat at him, crossing my arms to show off my guns and simultaneously attempting to fill out the entire doorway, so that Rachel wouldn't come over.

Jesse blinked and all his initial trepidation (see? Rachel is having an effect on me) disappeared like it'd never even been there.

"I wanted to speak with Rachel, Puckerman."

"Yeah, and I wanted to tear your tongue out your throat and stuff it up your ass so you'd puke it up again, but that ain't happening either," I said, casually leaning up against one doorway when, after a quick glance to make sure, Rachel didn't storm over to see what Jesse wanted with her.

Jesse stared at me with that snooty expression that I'd gotten used to ever since he'd waltzed in to the choir room and enchanted all the other Gleeks. Then, apparently, he seemed to realize that I wasn't budging and he let out a sigh.

"Look, Puckerman, I just wanted to talk to Rachel. I owe her an apology and I wanted to let her know that I bear her no ill will; since I'm soon going to take L.A. by storm I can't have a cloud of guilt hanging over my shoulders. For one thing it's bound to do horrible things to my image and secondly, I honestly like Rachel. She's one of the only friends I've ever had."

"If that's the way you treat your friends, I'm okay with being your enemy," I said, not letting my temper get the best of me.

It all changed when he spoke again; I felt like I was choking on pure rage that was burning me from the inside.

"I also came to warn her that her mother is on the warpath so to speak. She did not appreciate your visit to Carmel High and once she discovered how Rachel had retaliated towards me in particular after my ill fated attempt at psyching you all out, she turned into a second Sue Sylvester; barring the inevitable tracksuits fortunately."

"That bitch!"

"Noah?" Rachel was standing behind me now and I forced back the trembling fury that gave my body the shakes. "What's wrong? Oh- hello Jesse."

Her tone of voice was civil and without a doubt polite, but there was a touch of ice in it that told anyone listening that she was ready for another smack down if necessary. My anger dimmed a bit to give way to a proud internal smirk…and a semi.

"Hello Rachel. I," Jesse sent me a quick look and rightfully interpreted my silent warning to shut the fuck up about what he'd just told me, "I simply came to try to mend some fences before the competition rightfully begins."

"Really?" Rachel beamed, her anger seemingly gone within the blink of an eye and I was once again confused over girls' ability to just change their minds.

Jesse didn't stay long; one of his fellow Vocal Adrenaline members came and fetched him, stating something about meeting the judges beforehand.

A few minutes after that, things started getting crazy and Jesse's news faded a bit in the background in lieu of the newest disaster. It turned out that the other choirs had known beforehand just who their judges were gonna be and had acted accordingly.

"Damn it," I heard Matt of all people mutter as I made my way over to Rachel, who was trying to force Mr. Shue to go take legal action of some sort against the event planner.

Before I knew it though, it was too late to do much of anything and we were all on stage, singing our hearts out. I threw in a little extra swagger to please the crowd; if I exaggerated a bit during my little duet with Santana it was only 'cause I'd felt this pang inside of me during Finn and Rachel's duet during the first song.

There was no doubt in my heart that whatever feelings she'd used to have for my best friend had long evaporated; especially after I'd turned into this awesome boyfriend. But still, sometimes Rachel was just too good of an actress, and I'll tell you the truth; the insides of my hands had marks from my nails from clenching too hard.

Anyway, none of this is really important, what happened next is. Suddenly, mere minutes after exiting the stage, a middle aged woman that I quickly recognized as Quinn's poor excuse of a mother, set into a scream that made the walls shake.

Quinn's water had broken. I'm pretty sure that I'd still be standing in the small hallway in between the Green Room and the stage if it hadn't been for Rachel's small hand gripping me around my right wrist and dragging me off after a scared looking Quinn and a seriously freaked out looking Finn.

We left Quinn's mother behind after Quinn's wishes. Instead, she turned to Rachel and begged her to call Hiram and Abraham. Evidently, I wasn't the only one that had turned into a Berry family member on the side. Hell, with the parents we had, it was no wonder.

The ride to the hospital was both the shortest and the longest one of my life; Quinn was weeping silently, muttering something about burning in hell for hurting her mom's feelings. Finn was busy exclaiming that everything was gonna be completely fine while Rachel was clutching my hand harder than I would've thought possible and trying to comfort Quinn at the same time.

But to be completely honest, as we all barreled through the entrance doors to the hospital, the entire New Directions hot on our tails, I was suddenly hit with this wave of fear. What if this soon to be born kid wasn't gonna be Finns' after all? Would I – no, could I, love that little girl as much as the one Rachel was carrying? Fuck if I knew and that more than anything made me pray that Quinn was having Finn's daughter, 'cause, take it from me; a dad that doesn't love his kid with everything in him has no business being a parent.

I was torn out of my unusual thoughtful state of mind when a pretty ragged looking nurse, who was closer to fifty than forty came over to Quinn, starting a pretty weird chain of events.

Quinn grabbed Finn, gesturing wildly with her free hand for him to take a firm hold of Rachel, which he immediately did. She in return tightened her death grip on my hand and then we all more or less tumbled into the room where everything was gonna happen, ignoring the medical staff telling us only to have the nearest family present, 'cause, that's really what we were, however fucked up it sounds. A family.

And…okay, it might be because it wasn't Rach giving birth or what not, but seriously, standing witness to a birth is gross – I mean, it was enough to make me swear off sex forever…or, you know, a few weeks at the least. Bottom line is, it was nasty and the smell weren't too hot either. I was praying to my Jew God to make the earth swallow me whole, 'cause I was sure I was gonna pass out and lose all my man cards in the process, but then something amazing finally happened.

Quinn gave one last fierce push and out came this wailing, slimy, bluish thing that turned out to be completely wonderful. Finn was crying and I would've probably have called him a pansy if it hadn't been for the telling burn in my own eyes. Quinn looked sweaty and so fucking happy that it was almost too much to bear.

Rachel was cooing, sitting on Quinn's other side, having released my hand somewhere in the middle of everything, when she was sure I wasn't gonna bolt for the nearest exit. I smiled and watched the little baby move her tiny fingers in Finn's direction, prompting him to take a gentle hold of her hand.

In that moment, he looked up and our eyes met. For a second, he looked heartbreakingly sad and my smile vanished, remembering that it might be my little girl that he was falling so effortlessly in love with. I swallowed heavily and turned to Rachel, hoping that she hadn't seen anything.

Unfortunately, that girl never missed anything and she met my stare head on. Then she smiled, a heartrending copy of her usual warming smile and spoke quietly, "come over here, Noah. Isn't she just beautiful?"

I nodded, but couldn't bring myself to really look closer at the small bundle in Quinn's arms. And when Rachel didn't protest at my obvious reluctance, I knew she was acting just as much as me.

0o0o0

Things got hectic after that. At one point, Rachel's bitchy mom showed up, looking a bit too interested at the newborn girl, who Quinn revealed would be named Eve Drizzle Fabray-Hudson. But Abraham and Hiram walked over to her and said a few things I couldn't hear and she left pretty quickly after that.

I admit I grinned when the "Drizzle" part was revealed and knew that it was Quinn's not so subtle attempt of making amends to Finn, who'd been pretty gloomy since the birth whenever he wasn't around Eve or Quinn.

Obviously, he was eager to find out the truth, and fuck if I wasn't too. Rachel kept pretending that she was fine no matter what, and it was clear that she was very much in love with Eve, but still; I knew her well enough to know what was really going on inside that crazy head of hers. I mean, I've pretty much become an expert since she started getting hormonal.

Anyway, at least there was one piece of great news in between all this Soap Opera shit of mine. Mr. Shue was permitted to keep Glee Club going despite our third place at Regionals. For one brief moment, when we all sat together in the Choir Room just before starting on our summer break, we were all just kids goofing around with relief; happy that our sanctuary hadn't been taken away from us just yet.

Of course, it was only a brief pause in my before mentioned Soap life. Finn and I had our blood drawn to determine once and for all, who was baby Eve's Dad. I was tense and probably not the best guy to hang around, but for once, Rachel took my mood swings without retaliating or, you know killing me. She even tried seducing me a few times to take my mind of things. It was awesome, and I'd pretty much gotten the hang of satisfying her without thinking about my dick hitting my innocent baby girl's head.

But not even great sex could take the edge off of the issue that was my mother.

After baby Eve's arrival, Ma suddenly started calling the Berry house, demanding to see me so we could talk it out; pointing out in more and more desperate ways that I was still a minor and under her care. I kept blowing her off, pretty much begging Abraham and Hiram to keep her away from me; I didn't need her in my life right now, throwing on the maternal guilt that she so excelled at, making me feel like shit. My life was already complicated enough as it was.

It all came to an unexpected end about two weeks after Quinn giving birth. It was late at night and Rachel and I were lounging on the couch, just chilling and…oh, who am I kidding, we were cuddling like crazy people. Quinn was sitting in the recliner closest to us, trying to coach Finn through a diaper change with Rachel's dads looking on fondly; their love for Eve was out of this world, and judging from the almost longing look in Hiram's eyes when he stared at Rachel's big belly, our kid would more than likely be the most spoiled little girl in the world. It would seem that he'd finally gotten over the fact that his baby was having a baby; now he just wanted to hold that little one and rejoice in the whole thing and I have to admit that was fucking epic and kindda huge.

Suddenly, our now rare peaceful moment was ruined by a pounding on the door and the loud sound set off baby Eve and Rachel looked at me with this look that made me want to grab my bat in our bedroom and beat the living shit out of anyone daring to came near her. Apparently, my protective instinct had grown a tad excessive over the last few months (Rachel's wording, not mine btw).

I never got the chance to do much of anything though, because in the next moment, there was my mother and to my big fucking surprise, she was flanked by two of Lima's cops; both of whom I knew well from my past as a kickass delinquent and originator of the Lima Fight club some years back. They both scowled a bit at first, but it quickly turned into slightly sheepish looks when the big form of Abraham towered over them in all his glory, demanding to know what the hell was going on – using different words obviously.

My mother glared at their weakness and then turned to me with this haughty look in her eyes that I recognized all too well. "Come on Noah, I'm here to take you home. This foolishness has been going on for long enough now."

"What?" I stood up, standing just out of her reach, 'cause fuck if I was going with her. Now that I looked closer, there were telltale signs of her having been drunk not too long ago. She was sober now, but her hair was matted and unwashed and there were familiar signs that only a kid growing up with it could see.

"I ain't going with you," I stated, straightening my back and then I added, "You're fucking nuts if you think coming into this house looking like that will make me come back. Besides, I have responsibilities here."

"You have responsibilities to our family too, Noah," my mom screeched, and I could see how tired she was. "I don't know what to do. You sister is acting out in school and missing you." Okay, there was the guilt…

"I know I've acted rash, not only tonight, Noah, but you've all been ignoring my calls and I just want you to come home. We have to figure out what to do before this horrible mess of yours turns even worse."

"Don't call my baby a mess," my anger erupted and I finally took the last few steps closer to the woman that had carried me. "You did that enough with me. Let me give you a piece of advice; just send your daughter off to Granma and spend time getting yourself together again. You've been drinking again Ma; you're not that great at hiding it without me. It's pathetic."

The feel of my mother's cold hand on my cheek, striking me harshly was something that I'd felt before, but it didn't sting as much as it used to, mostly because this time I was one hundred percent sure that I wasn't a worthless copy of my old man; hell, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was loved and I wasn't gonna let this ruin any of my newfound confidence.

Before I got a chance to show her any of that; to act like the mature guy that Rachel had awoken in me and tell the two now shocked cops to escort my mother the fuck out of my house; my little Fury of a girlfriend stepped in-between us and hit my mother right back!

"You stupid uncouth self-centered bitch! Get out! I swear that you'll regret ever laying a hand on my boyfriend if you don't leave right now! Get out!"

Rachel stomped forward and unceremoniously started pushing my mother back towards the now sort of scared looking police guys. I guess pregnant chicks had that effect on all men, in and out of uniform. "I'll make sure that you'll lose every ounce of your parental rights if you don't vacate the premises immediately! My dads' are well versed in the legal system as you may know and since you've assaulted your flesh and blood not only verbally, but psychically as well and in front of several witnesses; I have no doubt that things will run very sour for you, so get the hell out!"

My mother looked oddly frightened and, considering that she'd always seemed like this immovable force to me growing up, I was feeling very weird and there was a small part of me that wanted to either help Rachel push her outside by force, or even help her home and into bed to try and get herself back together. I had had no idea that she was so far gone and it only became clear to me when Rachel stepped in and took over my battle. I have to admit watching Rach curse like me was a turn on that I vowed to remember for a later time.

While all of this was going on, I vaguely heard Abraham say to the cops that they should make sure that my sister either went to my Grandma's house or was taken here so she could stay here with all of us until things settled down.

Then all my attention suddenly zeroed in on Rachel. She had just pushed Ma the last bit into one of the cop's arms when she broke off in the middle of another long winded tirade to grimace in pain. A second later, she bent forward, suddenly leaning a bit of her weight on my now frozen mother's arm. And then I saw the dreaded sight of crimson blood trailing down of Rachel's legs; soaking the soft cotton of her pajamas; her eyes turning to me before anyone else really had time to notice anything; baby Eve's cries still echoing all around us in the chaos.

Rachel's eyes were widened with pain and above all else fear when she called out my name and for one seemingly endless minute, I was frozen with panic, unable to move any part of my body…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TWENTYFIVE

The shock that had my limbs freezing up transformed into a desperate need to help. Within seconds, I had Rachel in my arms and was shouting to the cops that they better drive us to the hospital as fast as fucking possible since this clusterfuck was at least partially their doing.

My mom then had the great idea that she wanted to tag along, claiming that her nurse training was somehow essential and I sent her such a scathing glare that she recoiled with a violent flinch. "I don't want you in my life right now," I informed her coldly, trying my damndest to ignore the warm blood that dripped on my arms since I refused to set Rachel back down, even inside the car. "If something happens to Rachel or my child, I will probably try to kill you, so stay out of my sight. What the fuck are you people waiting for? Go!" I screamed at the cops, who had only just then entered the police car.

This time there was nothing fast about the ride, even though there were sirens howling and we were without a doubt driving extremely fast; it still felt like it took forever and Rachel's heartbroken weeping into my neck didn't exactly help me get rid of that feeling.

"Shh," I cooed as gently as I could, "it's just like last time; it's just a little bleed, it's gonna be totally okay. Just relax Baby. I'm here."

Finally, after what seemed like hours, we arrived at the hospital and I was out the car with Rachel and halfway through the entrance doors before the cop who'd been driving had even turned off the engine.

"I need some help here!" I yelled and the medical staff that hadn't been moving all that fast at my abrupt and pretty clichéd entrance, catapulted into movement and the only thing I registered aside from Rachel's panicked eyes was, "ruptured," and "premature labor."

Fuck, it would seem like I was gonna be a dad a bit sooner than anticipated.

0o0o0

I can't really explain what happened next; I mean I was directed into a room to change into this alien looking uniform, it was just like the one I'd been forced into during Quinn's labor. Then I was directed to stand at Rachel's side while numerous people started prepping her; apparently she was gonna have an emergency C-section.

I just kept my mouth shut and tried giving Rachel all the support I could as I kissed her sweaty forehead. Inwardly, I was praying harder than I'd ever prayed before. Please let my kid be okay; please let Rachel be okay; I swear I'll grow up and act like the man she sees me as. Please, I don't think I can live without her.

I can't really remember what happened after that, my sole focus was on Rachel. She'd been knocked out early in the game when her blood pressure kept climbing to the sky as her nerves no doubt got the better of her; she was as scared shitless as I was. So I just kept running my hand over her brow, stopping every once in a while to check her pulse, even though I could easily hear the machine beeping, telling me the pulse was still there.

Then, things pretty much turned into first class shit after that. One minute the doctor was holding up the extremely tiny bundle that was my newborn daughter, the next she was being wheeled away in an incubator so they could concentrate on Rachel, whose body had decided to work against her and then I heard the most awful sound in the world; Rachel was flat lining and I was screaming and bawling like crazy to stay by her side even as three nurses were pushing me out of the room.

I slammed my hand into the nearest wall, the pain not doing its job to center me, so I kept on doing it, ignoring the blood and the crunching of my hand without any difficulty. All my thoughts were on that little woman inside that other room, who was in danger of dying just because I'd gotten her knocked up.

My self-inflicted violence was abruptly stopped when, after an unknown amount of time, I felt two big arms wrap themselves around me and pull out into the middle of the hall where I stumbled backwards, still moaning like a freaking girl.

"Shhh, Noah; stop: please stop." It was Abraham's deep voice that finally penetrated my red haze of self hate, but for once I couldn't obey; my tears and worries had a life of their own.

"Something happened," I managed to explain, eager to inform him of everything so he'd let me go to continue my madness in peace, "she was…no pulse and…oh God, what if she dies on me? Fuck!"

Abraham just tightened his grip, and didn't seem particularly surprised at my revelations, so I figured the nurses had already gotten to him. I slowly stopped struggling and the searing pain from my no doubt broken hand finally entered my conscious and I hissed in agony.

"Come on, Son," Hiram's broken voice sounded from behind me, "let's get that fixed." His smaller, but just as firm hands grabbed me and together Rachel's dads tried lending me their strength. And for one brief second, I just exhaled tiredly and let them lead me away from the small room where Rachel was fighting for her life.

0o0o0

Hours had passed and it was a new day; the news of what had happened had traveled through the grapevine so the other Gleeks started filtering in to the waiting room during the early morning. They sent me pitying looks and gave condolences for everything to both me and Abraham and Hiram. I couldn't have cared less; none of those idiots truly knew my Rachel.

My hand was in a cast and I just sat stonily by, waiting for news as Brittany drew on it, murmuring about having seen my kid and how beautiful she was. I knew that, even though I hadn't seen her myself yet; I mean there was a part of Rachel in that new little life, so I already knew it would be a beautiful girl.

I just didn't want to go up and see her. It was something I would share with Rachel, so I waited for her and that's what I told them in a monotone whenever somebody tried suggesting that I go with them up to the floor where she was.

One of the doctors had showed up earlier in the night when it had just been me and Rachel's dads waiting anxiously for news; Rachel had slipped into a coma like state and it was not possible to predict when she'd wake up. The 'if' had remained unsaid, but it had lingered in the air, giving me goosebumps and shivers at the mere thought of losing Rachel.

Kurt and Mercedes orchestrated some lame singing thing and sat together in the waiting room, singing about hope and shit. Mr. Shue dropped by and tried telling me about embracing every part of life, letting it mature you or whatever; I stopped listening within minutes of his arrival.

At some point in time, I was finally allowed to see Rachel and I moved my sorry ass into her room and sat down in a chair that I moved closer to her bed and I promised myself that no one would ever move me from her side again.

I must have been more exhausted than I realized because the next thing I remember is slowly waking up, still sitting in that god-awful chair by the way, listening to Quinn, Santana, Brittany and Mercedes and Kurt chatting to an unresponsive Rachel about our little girl, throwing out weird name suggestions like, "Blackie" 'cause apparently, she had dark hair and Brittany had a cat once that had been called that.

"…or, her real name was Bartholomew Blackasauraus Jr. But I don't think she'd like it if I gave her name to someone else, even such a beauty as Blackie." Brittany said just as I looked over at them all with disbelief probably marring my features more than my exhaustion did.

"…Or I could ask her if you'd like, Puck." Brittany trailed off, being the first one to notice that I was no longer sleeping.

They all turned to look at me and I straightened up, forcing myself to be polite to Britt, 'cause being impolite to her was just not right. Also, Santana's death glare warned me to behave as well.

"That's not a bad idea Britt, but uhm…I don't think Rach want our kid to be named without her input. I wanna wait for her to wake up."

"But she might not-" Brittany began, but fortunately for all our peace of mind, Santana interrupted before she could say the dreaded truth.

"You look like shit Puckerman. Go take a shower, 'cause you stink like it too."

"Fuck off," I retorted, turning back to look at Rachel's unmoving form; she looked serene, so unlike the panicked mess she'd been during the birth.

I reached out and ran my uninjured hand through her long, soft hair. Some of the nurses must have washed the sweat out of it before letting any of us coming in to see her. I knew Rachel would appreciate it, so I just kept running my fingers through the strands; combing it as much as I could without a brush.

At one point in time, Quinn asked me to step outside for a second and I have to admit that it was only the few manners that Rachel had knocked into my head that made me leave her side to do as Quinn asked.

Once outside the room, I closed the door so Abraham and Hiram could get some alone time with her for once and turned to look at Quinn silently.

"I know this isn't the right time really, but I thought you should know. When I got home this morning from my walk with Eve, there was a letter with the results of the paternity test." She looked so emotional and happy and I knew the truth before she even told it to me.

"You're not the father; I'm gonna go tell it to Finn now, I just thought you could use some good news today."

It was all that until the night before had been on my mind, but now it was just a hollow joy; an echo that I couldn't quite hear until I could share the news with Rachel. I just nodded, and took the hug that Quinn bestowed upon me with a fierceness that would most likely have broken a few more bones in me if I hadn't been so buff.

"I'll be by later to visit," Quinn said after releasing me and then she left, a bounce in her step that I hadn't seen in months. I was happy that she was happy at least; personally, I just didn't have enough left in me to care.

0o0o0

It took three days; three fucking days where every thought in my body was pretty much obsessed with going over horrible scenarios of losing Rachel, of hunting down my mother, who had been the catalyst for everything. But then the day came where Rachel's eyes fluttered and slowly opened.

She blinked and narrowed her eyes against the light in the room, trying to make sense of what had happened. At least that's what she looked like. Then her hands moved down to her diminished belly and her dazed and drugged look gave way to a much more panicked one.

"She's okay," I jumped in, trying to stop Rachel's growing fear – happy that for the moment I was alone with her; Hiram and Abraham had gone to work, trying to get through the days as normally as possible. "You had a C-section, Baby; she's alright and waiting for her Mommy. Just take some deep breaths, Babe."

Rachel's lips twisted into a small relieved smile and she grabbed my hand, looking a bit confused when she noticed the cast on the other one before closing her eyes and falling back asleep.

In that moment, I didn't give a fuck that I looked like a pussy; my eyes were overflowing and I was too stoked to even wipe the tears off my face. Instead, I gingerly placed myself on the bed next to Rachel and embraced her as gently as I could manage and just sighed out all my worries, because I now knew that everything was gonna be okay again.

"Thank you," I murmured to the man upstairs as I kissed Rachel's forehead. I settled down to wait for her to wake up again so I could share the news about baby Eve with her and then finally go see my daughter with her mom by my side.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TWENTYSIX

Summer went by faster than I'd thought possible. I mean, usually my summers always went by in a blur, mostly due to the cougars and/or chicks I'd bang and the weed and alcohol I'd consume at various parties and crap, but this year it had to do with something completely different.

Or, someone to be exact.

My little girl, whose voice was already as loud as her mom's, I groaned a bit when her now long term familiar wail woke me up and I hurried out of the bed I shared with Rachel, who was exhausted enough not to hear our daughter as quickly as me for a change.

I tiptoed into my daughter's room and bent over her crib and reached down to take her into my arms. "Shh Baby Girl; you gotta stop doing this to your daddy. School starts tomorrow…or you know in a few hours and you're in danger of making me sleepwalk through my first day."

She kept on crying her little heart out and I smiled, 'cause seriously, it was amazing how much love I had for that little human in my arms even when she was keeping me from sleep for like the hundredth time.

"Caroline, you really need to sleep, Sweetie. Maybe this will help, it usually does," I murmured and started humming the song from where we'd gotten her name.

Deciding what to name her had been a ferocious battle that had only come to an end when Rachel declared that she'd carried the little rascal in her womb and thus deserved to name her. I'd shared a suffering look with Abraham, dreading like him that my kid was gonna be called 'Broadway' or something along those lines. So, it shocked the hell out of me when she just threw out Caroline. I didn't have to ask why, so I'd just stood there with freshly named Caroline in my arms while Rachel told her dads all about my trying to prove myself and all that embarrassing shit.

Anyway, I shook off my memories and looked down at Caroline, only just noticing that she had quieted down and was watching me with apt attention, a small toothless smile on her beautiful face. "That's it Girly Girl," I whispered and settled down in the rocking chair that was placed next to her crib to wait until she fell asleep in my arms.

This was not the way I'd imagined starting my third high school year, but as I stared at the wonder in my arms I didn't have an ounce of regret in me. "I love you Baby Girl," I murmured and closed my eyes, just for a little second.

"Noah!"

It gave a start in me and I jolted awake, only to gasp with fear when I remembered that I'd fallen asleep with Caroline in my arms.

"I took her to Daddy so he could dress her while I woke you up. She made a mess like always during the feeding. Anyway, you're gonna be late if you don't hurry, Noah." Rachel stood in the doorway to the nursery, wearing a big smile and her earlier exhaustion from a week with a very fussy baby wasn't visible in her eyes any longer. "Come on, I've already made you some breakfast."

I showered quickly and got dressed while scarfing down a couple of French toasts that tasted better than anything I'd ever tasted.

Rachel's dads had hired a nanny to look after Caroline during school hours, but that was the only help we had with her and Quinn usually came by to drop Eve off so they could spend their time together; since moving out of the Berry residence and back in with her repenting mother, Quinn had also done everything on her own with a little help from Finn as well.

But, between you and me, things didn't look so hot between the golden couple these days. Whereas Caroline and all the work her being here added to things had brought Rachel and me closer than ever, the reality of the baby stuff seemed to have driven a wedge between Finn and Quinn lately. He had begun spending the nights back at his mom's place in his old bedroom and last I heard he'd hosted a WOW night for the Gleek guys.

He'd invited me too, but Caroline had spiked a small fever and I didn't feel comfortable burdening Rach with the no doubt fussiness of everything just 'cause I wanted to kill things on a machine.

That earned me a make out session that nearly made me forget my fucking name and the blowjob that followed would've made me religious if I wasn't already on decent terms with my Jew God. So I wasn't complaining one bit about the responsibilities. In fact, as lame as it sounds; I was pretty fucking happy and aside from a few minor bumps in the road over the summer, I wouldn't change a thing.

One such bump was my mother. After the way her last attempt had gone, I'd lost the last bit of respect for her – especially 'cause now I knew that she'd been looking a bit too much in to the bottle. Ma knew that it would be a cold day in Hell before I'd let her come close to me and mine again. Instead, she started writing; long ass letters to say how very sorry she was and that she would make it up to me again and all that kind of bullshit.

Fortunately, she no longer had much of a leg to stand on. After the night of Caroline's unexpected arrival, the two cops that had been with her had filed a report stating that she'd hit me. Long boring story short; my sister had temporally been moved to my Grandma where she was flourishing and enjoying life again and Rachel's dads had been awarded temporary custody of me until further notice.

To say Ma had liked that was an understatement, but Hiram had marched off to her house and returned with a new letter, wherein she promised to make amends and begged me to give her another chance to redeem herself once she was released. I'd looked up at Hiram with questions in my eyes and he'd quickly explained that he'd helped Ma to admit herself to a facility that dealt with alcoholics and other types of abusers.

I hate to admit it, even now, but I was missed the woman my mother had been and was hopeful that once released, I could try to reconnect with the woman she'd been before my loser of a father had abandoned us and left that shell of a woman behind that had been my mother.

Another annoying aspect of the summer had been the fact that I'd spotted Shelby around town every once in a while; she'd stared at Caroline with a weird expression on her face and I'd always tightened my grip on my kid whenever she was around, protective instincts telling me to go take out that evil bitch. Fortunately, she couldn't come close to us; she'd made a deal with Rachel's dads to stay away until Rachel was eighteen, so I breathed easily whenever I remembered that – or, you know, Rachel reminded me when I'd been tensing up and more or less growling at her vanishing form in the grocery store or where ever it was I noticed her.

Other than that, it'd been a kickass summer and I wasn't exactly thrilled to go back to school. McKinley was never a happy place for people that fell outside of the box. Being a Gleek and a teenage dad to boot was as unconventional as it could be, so I was doomed to feel some discomfort.

But, I didn't care really. Much of what I cared about was sitting next to me as I drove the ten minute drive to school. Rachel was looking better than ever; her early delivery and subsequent coma (something I still woke up with nightmares about every now and again) had been hard on her, but now she was back to perfect health, and I'm happy to say that her skirts and sexy knee socks had made a slow, but steady reappearance over the last few weeks.

When we arrived at McKinley, I had already jumped out, grabbing her still seriously fugly trolley bag and had opened the door on her side of the truck before she'd even managed to unclick her seatbelt. Shut up, I'd spent most of the previous ten months doing pretty much every little thing for her; some habits die hard.

Although, the glowing, grateful smile she sent me, as I helped her out of the truck made it all worth it.

In the next second though, her smile dimmed a little as her eyes scanned her surroundings. "I know my scholastic achievements are very important for our joint future, but I must confess that all I really want to do as of right now is return home and spend the day with our daughter."

Glaring at a couple of seniors who had the fucking audacity to point in our directions and make stupid faces while mining pregnant bellies, I sighed. "Yeah, I know. Me too. But cleaning shitty diapers can't be better than going to class, right?"

Even though I was the one saying it, I could hear the lie in my voice as clearly as Rachel could, but she just lit back up and straightened her back as she took a firm hold of my hand. "That's not entirely untruthful. I adore Caroline, but between you and I there is no doubt in my mind that she's inherited her digestive system and all it entails from you."

"Yeah, that kid could knock down a wall if she really put some effort in to it." I grinned and led the way into the hellhole where we were doomed for two years of schooling before we could escape to New York. "If she's anything like me, we're totally banning her from anything Tabasco related or else she'll need new underwear for when her ass blows-"

"Yes thank you Noah for that image," Rachel interrupted me and then dragged me forward to embrace Kurt, who'd been waiting for Rachel at her locker.

"Hey Momma," he greeted her with his usual flamboyant air and then turned to me with a big ass grin that nearly blinded me. "Hey Daddy."

"Call me that again and I'll whoop your ass," I warned, but judging from the laugh he gave me, he didn't take me seriously. Why would he? I'd been saying that ever since he'd walked in on me cooing at Caroline like a total Spaz while I was changing her diaper.

I kissed Rachel's cheek when the bell rang and went off to my own classes where I caught Mike sitting playing footsie with Tina of all people in the back row. Never one to take my hints from social cues, I plumbed down next to them.

"What's up you two lovebirds? Banged each other yet?"

Tina immediately sported a blush and Mike tried to conceal a grin of epic proportions. I subtly held up a hand to high five. Hey, I may be a full time dad now, but I was still a dude.

In any case I was happy for them; especially Mike 'cause he'd been moping around ever since Matt had moved in the middle of summer. I'd been bummed too, but there was nothing we could do. At least he promised to stay in touch with Facebook and shit, so I knew I'd still be able to get a hang of him if needed. He was one of my best bros, but still, Mike had been his best friend, so it was good to see him happy again.

0o0o0

The day went by normally; I tried not to fall asleep in classes where Rachel or any of the Gleeks were; aside from Santana, 'cause she got me. I threatened a few jocks that I saw carrying slushies and evil grins while their eyes followed Rachel and Kurt's movements. And then, finally, it was time to head to the Choir Room.

We proceeded to go all giggly over the fact that Nationals this year was in New York only to have Mr. Shue, as always, bring us back to Earth, reminding us that we needed new members to even participate in the fucking competition.

Which meant that we quickly had to throw together a performance for next day's lunch period and aside from the fact that I got to enjoy the view of Rachel clad in a sexy shirt, looking all gangster for once, it was nice cutting lose and just enjoying myself. Of course, none of the assholes in the quad gave a shit about us, so it all ended pretty anticlimactic.

But, as it turned out, it'd worked and I helped Artie, Mike and Finn out auditioning a new kid, whose mouth could probably fit the entire Northern Atmosphere – and he had some fire in him and I loved that.

At the same time though, there was trouble brewing on Rachel's end. She seemed extremely fixated on not including any more members and if I knew one thing about her, it was that she always had a reason for whatever she did and once we got home, I figured out what this reason was.

Apparently, this new kid, whose name was either Rain or Sunshine or something shitty like that, was a better singer than Rachel. Something that I seriously doubted though, but I went along with it and tried to calm Rachel down and it seemed to work, 'cause she smiled briefly and kissed me before turning her attention back on Caroline, who was sleeping in her arms.

The next day, however, I realized that I'd grown complacent, that I'd forgotten just how competitive Rachel Berry really was. I was sitting in the Choir Room, seemingly jamming a bit with Artie, while in reality I was subtlety showing him the newest pictures I'd taken with my phone of Caroline smiling; Caroline crying, Caroline breathing; hell, Caroline doing everything and nothing was still the most interesting thing to me and I hoped it never ended. I had become an expert in ignoring my guy friends' slightly exasperated expressions over the summer, so Artie's lukewarm "she's still a beauty, Dog," didn't bother me in the least.

Anyway, Mike and Tina somehow discovered that my crazy ass woman had sent Sunshine to a crack house off all places in an attempt to stop the competition to her talents. At first I didn't know whether to high five her for being so badass or yell at her for being so…Rachel.

Of course, I immediately turned to glare heavily at Finn and some of the others that dared treat her like she was something severely disgusting; no one treated my girl like that. "Hey, shut the fuck up Jackasses," I warned, placing my arm over Rachel's shaking shoulders. "Like any of you wouldn't have done the exact same thing if you possessed even an inch of Berry's gift."

The looks didn't vanish completely, nor did the slight grumbling in the background, but I could live with that. Rachel commented sadly at my side that it had been an abandoned crack house, as if that made all the difference. To her it probably did.

The only one that seemed to not be mad at Rach was Quinn; she just got her book bag and sat down in the empty seat on Rachel's left side, showing her silent support. I nodded at her with a smirk etched on my face while watching Rachel smiling at her with a tentative hope. She was still scared as shit that Quinn, who'd turned into her closest friend during their shared pregnancies, would turn back into that hateful bitch she'd been pre Eve.

I on the other hand, never doubted Quinn's loyalties. If not for the humongous love she had for Rachel and her dads for supporting her when no one else wanted to - not even Finn - then for the exceptional nanny that Hiram had spent numerous days seeking out and who she used everyday free of charge.

The other Gleeks kept muttering amongst themselves and I even heard them ask for an apology of all things, like they'd been the ones to go to the crack house. Fuck 'em, I thought and stood up; I'd solve this crap myself.

"Noah, where are you going?" Rachel seemed genuinely panicked about me leaving her side. Reassuring her with a quick kiss on the lips, I turned back to the doors.

"I just need to take a leak, Babe, I'll be right back."

Of course, I didn't need to piss. No, instead I sought out that tiny form that Rachel had pointed out to me earlier that day as being Sunshine Cora – something. When I eventually found her, looking gloomy in an empty classroom I was once again amazed that there was a girl even smaller than Rachel. She was that short. I briefly wondered if she'd fall down if I pushed her with my pinky finger.

Snapping out of my weird ass thoughts, I cleared my throat to get her attention. She blinked at me with confusion in her eyes. "Yes?" she said.

"I need you to join Glee club," I began and grabbed a chair, turned it around and sat down, leaning my head on my arm. "What Rachel did wasn't the brightest idea in the world, but really, she's just scared."

"No," Sunshine objected, straightening up, looking mighty huffy for such a small person, "she's evil. There's a difference."

Pushing aside the insult, I continued as if she'd never spoken. "She's scared. You're a great singer, according to her; and that freaks her out. You see, she's always been cut throat when it comes to being the best. She wants to make it to the top more than anything, but recently," I pulled out my secret weapon and handed it to Sunshine with a small smirk, "she's pretty obsessed with making it so she can take care of that little piece of gold there."

Sunshine looked down at the same baby pictures that I'd just tortured Artie with for the billionth time. Her reaction was much more appreciated. Sunshine's face transformed into a beaming grin at the sight. "Oh, she's so adorable!"

After that, it was pretty easy to convince Sunshine to give Rachel and Glee another shot; after all; women being bitchy for selfish reasons were a big no-no, but women that wanted the best to help their kids were solid forgiven pretty much everything.

The next day, Sunshine joined New Directions after a little difficulty. Apparently Vocal Adrenaline's new coach tried to recruit her, but she quickly declined because she'd been promised by a repenting Rachel that she could come over to our house and eat dinner and meet Caroline. Fortunately for us, 'cause I'd hate to see what Vocal Adrenaline would've been with her on their side…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TWENTYSEVEN

Having Sunshine in New Directions was something that changed a lot, and then again, it didn't change a damn thing at the same time.

Rachel was still the undisputed queen of Glee. Oh, don't get me wrong here; I knew that, although she'd come around a little and now liked Sunshine well enough, there was no way in hell she'd share the spotlight. I knew that, Rachel knew that and even Sunshine knew it and the most amazing thing about it all was that she totally accepted it. The only one that seemed to quite have figured it all out yet was Mr. Shue.

Grinning inwardly, I watched once more how he tried to get me and Sunshine a lead together; well, she had the lead and I was backing her up with my sweet harmonies, but whatever. Rachel protested vividly; oh she was way more polite while doing it these days; throwing in a sincere compliment towards Sunshine and me's talents, but she was still objecting.

While most of the other Gleeks rolled their eyes or groaned at once again being subjected to Rachel Versus Shuester battle number two thousand and seventy-three, I shared an amused look with Sunshine, who had started to develop this weird hero worship of Rachel. She had no intentions of becoming a big leading lady, as she said when we talked sometimes when she dropped by at home, going totally insane over the adorableness that was my kid.

She was way too prone to stage fright. She loved to sing and none of us (not even Rachel) denied that she was brilliant at it. But, fortunately for all of us, Sunshine wanted to be an actress and was more than happy to let Rachel hog the spotlight on stage (and off).

Finally, Mr. Shue practically growled at Rachel to go take her seat and I narrowed my eyes at him, 'cause teacher or not, nobody talked to my woman like that. I knew he was feeling down and all from losing his own woman to a dentist of all people, but still; messing with Rachel meant messing with me.

Mr. Shue noticed my stare and cleared his throat uncomfortably, clearly he got my unspoken message, 'cause he jumped into a huge speech about some old boring dude that seemed to get him as hot and bothered as Journey. It was disgusting to tell ya the truth…

I wasn't the only one thinking that, and to everyone's surprise it wasn't Rachel that tried to put a stop to Mr. Shue's middle-aged easy listening crap this time around; no, it was Kurt and he wanted us all to do Britney Spears songs. But then our very own Brittany turned out to hate that suggestion and since she didn't like it, neither did Santana and that was that. I didn't like the smug satisfied look on Shue's face though and sent him a scowl just 'cause I could.

When glee ended, I kissed Rachel before heading off to football practice; we'd gotten this awesome new coach. She looked like my great-uncle Vic, but I liked her and she was great at whipping our sorry ass team into shape. The new kid, Sam that had auditioned for Glee before chickening out was the new quarterback, and although I didn't know his style as well as I did Finn's, I could already feel that he was a good addition to the team.

Anyway, Coach Beiste (yeah, I'm not kidding on that one either) put us through hell at practice and I felt more dead than alive when I'd showered and drove home.

I smiled a bit when the thought hit me; I'd completely accepted the Berry's house as my home; it was way more homey than my childhood house had been. When I pulled up at the curve, I saw that Finn's car wasn't in the driveway and guessed that he'd decided not to show up today once again. He was a dumbass, I mean, I could never wait to get home to be with my family and he usually passed. I mean, fair is fair he loves his kid more than anything; he's almost as bad as I am with the picture stuff and he turns into a growling lion anytime someone says anything bad about Quinn or Eve; but he's just not that into the whole realism of it all. Dirty diapers, crying and barf are pretty much a given once you have a baby around.

Shaking off the thoughts of my best friend's actions, I got out of my truck and walked inside. There I immediately broke out into the biggest grin I could at the sight of Rachel sitting casually on the sofa next to Quinn as they both discreetly breastfed their girls. Quinn always fed Eve as soon as she came to pick her up before heading home; although most days she ended up eating dinner with all of us – just like old times.

I didn't even look at Quinn's admittedly more pronounced chest as I walked over to them; all my concentration was on the tiny brunette who'd looked up once she'd heard me come in, a smile as big as mine on her beautiful lips. "Hello Noah; I'm happy that that woman didn't force you to stay behind and lose even more of your precious free time."

Yeah, Rach didn't really like Coach Beiste and her habit of, you know, putting me through the wringer. If you ask me, I'd say it's 'cause it makes me so exhausted that sometimes I can't perform my duties in the sack if you catch my drift. I wanted to live though, so there's no way I'd ever say it out loud. Besides, no way I'd ever admit that I'd fallen asleep the other day when Rachel had sauntered into our bedroom in a kickass and boner guaranteed set of lingerie, only to have me fall asleep before she'd even touched my dick. It was embarrassing as hell.

I didn't reply to Rachel's comment, I just sat down next to her in the sofa, in-between her and Quinn. I leaned over and whispered a question about what excuse Finn had given this time and Rachel sighed a bit before murmuring back that he'd fallen behind on homework and that his mother had demanded that he didn't flunk this semester now that he had a child to support in the future.

Rolling my eyes, I made myself comfortable, promising myself that I'd beat some sense into Finn when we were alone next time. He really needed to sort out his priorities.

Casting a glance at Quinn, who was smiling softly down at Eve's suckling face; I saw the clear signs of her having cried earlier. "You okay?" I asked, putting my arm around both Rachel and her.

"Yeah; I'm just happy I've got you guys and Abe and Hiram too; that's all." She answered with a sigh without looking away from Eve.

"We ain't going anywhere," I promised and then she looked up at me.

"I know and even though I don't deserve it, I'm gonna take it. Thanks." Quinn's small smile turned teasing as she added, "stop looking at my chest, Puck."

Grinning, 'cause Rachel didn't' even flinch at my side, being totally secure in us these days, I just shrugged gently. "Well, I'm still a dude, so deal with it."

"Rachel?" Quinn didn't look at her best friend as she placed Eve's tiny form on her shoulder to burp her.

"Yes, Quinn?"

"Refuse sex tonight, okay?"

"Sure."

"Aw man, I'm gonna go find Abraham, 'cause you chicks are evil." I declared and swiftly got off the couch with a small kiss to Caroline's head.

0o0o0

The next couple of days were pretty normal; except for the fact that Miss Pillsbury showed up with her, and I quote several of the females in glee (and Kurt) here, "beefcake man meat." He lectured us all about good dental hygiene and then made us do something that showed if we had decent teeth.

Not. Hot. By the way. Especially, I'm sad to say, Rachel. She hid her face in my neck for the rest of Glee, refusing to meet anyone head on. Apparently, blue teeth were one embarrassment that she didn't want to be bullied about. I shrugged, and tried to cheer her up by fondling her a bit.

For some reason she totally didn't like it and slapped my hand away with a screech of outrage that could probably be heard all over the entire state. "Chillax, Babe," I held my smarting hand with my uninjured one; ever since the night Caroline had been born, and I'd gone caveman on a wall, my hand had been more brittle. At least that's the excuse I'm giving and not the fact that Rachel's slaps sting like a motherfucker.

"I will not, Noah," Rachel exclaimed, holding a hand up to her mouth, hiding the last remains of the blue crap that could still be seen a bit even after she'd brushed her teeth like crazy at the first chance she got after Glee ended for the day. "Your uncouth behavior is childish and not what I need to deal with at this point in time!"

"Fine," suddenly I was just sick; sick at being misunderstood all the time, tired of being around girls and tone myself down to a version that they found acceptable. "But at least there's someone in this relationship that's acting their age sometimes."

Frowning, Rachel forgot her bluish teeth long enough to place both her hands on her hips. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

There was a tiny part of me that tried to get the more dominant part of me to shut the fuck up, but I pushed it down and soldiered on, too irritated to mince my words like I usually did. "Well, for starters; we're teenagers. The way you prance around most days is something that my Grandma would find too old fashioned for her!"

Rachel gasped dramatically and then turned away with a huff, "I can't even speak to you when you're acting so immaturely." Her tone was harsh and full of indignation, but I'd caught the flash of hurt in her eyes just before she turned away and I already felt like a total douche.

"Rach; Baby, come on…" I trailed off when she didn't turn back around and disappeared around the corner.

"I guess somebody's ain't entering the lady berry tonight," Santana tossed over her shoulder as she passed me; her pinky finger hooked with Brittany, who was murmuring about some dentist appointment that she had later.

I didn't even have the energy to flip Santana off, 'cause I knew she was right. Instead, I trekked to my locker and grabbed my books for my last class and prepared myself for a very uncomfortable time at dinner once I got home.

0o0o0

A few days later, and some very sad nights where Rachel always turned her back to me in the bed despite all my attempts at apologizing, I'd just finished talking a bit with Finn about manning up and that changing diapers weren't the end of the world when I saw something that brought out two very conflicting feelings inside of me.

One was lust; pure and simple. The other was rapidly growing dread and I abandoned Finn halfway through him talking about being taught that all that boring stuff was something moms did.

I didn't pay him the least bit of attention; it was Rachel 2.0 that I had all my focus on at that moment. She was strolling down the hallway towards me in that sexy as hell Britney Spears costume from that video she once did when she was still pretending to be a virgin, twirling her fingers around her braid. I adjusted my hard-on before stepping in front of her, halfway through pulling my letterman jacket off to put it over her. She might not have a lot of boob action going on, but that didn't mean she could flaunt everything around like they didn't' belong to me!

"Hello Noah," she greeted me with a big smile. I froze, not entirely sure why she wasn't pissed anymore. She'd been glaring at me just this morning, giving me the silent treatment until Hiram drove her to her dentist appointment while I drove to school alone.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"Don't you like it? I feel it's more contemporary than some of my other wardrobe choices; to be quite honest, I had you pegged as being completely fond of my new clothes."

Her tone was slightly smug while her big brown eyes shined with fake innocence. Oh, so that's how she wanted to play it. Fine by me. All my guilt drained out of me and I just shrugged casually, playing it cool.

"You're hot no matter what you wear, Berry and you know it. But if you keep this up, I'm not gonna protect you from Jacob when and not if, he tries to rape you or something when nobody's looking."

Rachel's smile dimmed hearing that and I retook my jacket that she'd shrugged off her shoulders almost before I'd planted it on her. I bent forward and kissed her cheek and then walked to my next class, not looking back to check if she was watching me.

Later that day, I purposely paid her back tenfold after her silent treatment and sat as far away from her as I could, placing myself next to Mike and Tina, who was too preoccupied looking into each other's eyes to notice me. Ah, new love…

I gritted my teeth while everyone fucking fawned over Rachel's new look and I lost all my earlier animosity towards Mr. Shue when he finally agreed to do Britney Spears and quickly put us all to work.

The whole number fell to pieces when someone started fucking moaning with pleasure during our performance later and Coach Sylvester got injured when everyone tried fleeing the gym when some ass wipe pulled the emergency thing that told us all that something was seriously wrong and shit. Too bad she didn't break her fucking neck.

Yeah, okay, so I might have some bottled up emotions inside of me. Rachel and I had an unspoken pact that we acted normally at home; Caroline was our neutral ground, but other than that we still weren't really communicating. I'd gotten up the night before, when I suddenly couldn't stand lying next to her anymore without touching her and walked into the living room to crash on the couch. I haven't slept so badly since before we hooked up.

I was beginning to fear that our combined stubbornness was gonna do some major damage to our relationship if one of us didn't cave. And trust me, I'd have done so gladly, if it wasn't for that little fact that I'd done nothing but give in since she'd told me that she was pregnant. I was fucking sick of it. And to top it all off; I'd apologized like a gazillion times already. Enough was enough!

So, I took out all my anger on my football training. Coach Beiste even approached me at one time, telling me that too much wasn't that great and that I should relax. I nodded solemnly and then turned around and forced Azimo to do some tackling with me so I could get my aggression out in that way, completely disregarding Coach's words.

Sometime later; after the rest of the guys had showered and left, I was sitting in the locker room, still only wearing my towel, too wiped out to even get dressed after my own shower. I just wanted to go home and take Rach in my arms and force her to get over all of this emo crap so we could go back to before I'd opened my big mouth.

The sound of the locker room door opening; brought me back from my thoughts and I looked up, only to lock eyes with Rachel of all people. She was wearing this lumpy polka dotted dress and dark moccasins on her feet with long white knee socks. To me, she'd never looked hotter.

"Hey," she whispered, not looking away from me for once.

"Hi," I replied, not sure if I should get up or what; 'cause I wasn't exactly wearing much of anything.

"Can we talk?" she asked and continued when I'd nodded once. "I do not like us being in a disagreement, Noah. Truthfully, I think we've been through enough of that during my pregnancy. I'll admit that my reaction to your ill spoken comments was just as immature as what I accused you off, mere seconds before. And then-"

"I was a dick to you; you don't have to apologize," I interrupted, standing up slowly.

Rachel held up a hand, continuing with an intense look in her eyes that made my barely covered dick salute without hesitation, "Just promise me that you won't ever go to sleep without me by your side again; I felt so alone that I doubt you have any idea what it-"

"I know exactly how it feels," I growled and pounced on her, lifting her up and walking with her until we met a wall and then, sick and tired of talking, I crashed my lips on hers and all my earlier exhaustion vanished like it'd never been there in the first place.

My towel dropped and I'd just slammed into her slick, awaiting heat with a satisfied groan that she matched in my ear, when we were pulled out of our haze by a shocked gasp and the sound of Coach Beiste apologizing profusely and looking quite flustered from the one glimpse I caught of her before she fled the locker room. Then Rachel moved around me and I was pulled right back into our lust filled bubble and I finally understood why some people argued so much, 'cause damn, makeup sex is fucking awesome!

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TWENTYEIGHT

"Phew, Girl; you're so nasty. Do you know that?"

"skghh!"

"Well, as long as you're aware of it, Stinky Pants." Grinning, I bent forward and picked up my giggling little girl, whose digestive system had just tried to kill me again. Damn, that's all I'll say about that.

I grabbed the diaper bag and slung it over my shoulder; not even caring about the non macho image I was portraying these days, before walking through the hallway to the choir room. There was a few stragglers standing in the hallways and those who'd known me before my relationship with Rach looked at me with widened eyes and their mouths hanging open.

I guess it was one thing to know that the Puckasaurus had procreated; it was another thing entirely to see it with your own eyes. Well, I say fuck 'em, 'cause I wasn't gonna hide my baby; I wasn't – ain't – ashamed of her one bit.

A few moments later, I arrived at the choir room and heard the familiar sounds of the Gleeks warming up; Rachel's voice rising clearly above the rest of them – although, I could spot Sunshine's voice too. I smirked inwardly, knowing that Rachel was both happy and a bit suspicious over the fact that someone was finally taking their warm ups as seriously as she did. And the rest of us, who had eyes only saw the slight hero worshipping that Sunshine had for Rach, making her want to impress her with her own capabilities.

It was pretty hilarious to watch as a matter of fact.

As I entered silently, I looked at Rachel, knowing without a doubt that she'd know Caroline was in her presence before anyone else. And I was right, I smirked – this time outwardly – when, a mere two seconds later, Rachel's eyes that had been closed with concentration at hitting the notes perfectly opened with a soundless snap and landed on Caroline's small form in my arms.

It was rare that we took our kid with us to the last glee practice of the week, but Hiram had called Rachel in the middle of her free period before glee and told her that the nanny was sick and couldn't stay longer today and he couldn't stay home from work because he was working on a big project that demanded all his attention and Abraham was away on business. Fifteen minutes later, Rachel had barreled unapologetically into my class to tell me the news, notified Quinn about Eve's impending arrival as well, dragged us outside to wait for her father so we could pick up Caroline and Eve.

And here we were. As I scanned the room, I spotted Finn standing by the piano with Eve, while Quinn was warming up, keeping her eyes locked on her daughter. In that moment, Mr. Shue stopped the warm-up, realizing that his lead singer's attention was wavering for once and in an instant, Rachel was by my side cooing dotingly at Caroline's toothless smile at seeing her Momma.

Suddenly, we were surrounded by the others, who were making silly faces and shit at Caroline; making her lips quiver at the onslaught of sound. "Hey, guys; I don't think that this is the most opportune environment for-" I heard Rachel politely try and get the others to respect the fact that crowding around a baby wasn't a good idea.

Naturally no one really paid attention to Rachel (other than Sunshine' who'd backed off immediately) and when I saw a flare of real, motherly anger brush over her face, as Mercedes and Santana both held up fingers to brush Caroline's cheeks, I straightened up and handed our girl to her and said with my usual ability to be firm and yet pretty polite at the same time.

"She told you to back the fuck up, go bother Finn instead."

Santana rolled her eyes and went back to the chairs; evidently not the least bit interested in the other baby present. Gotta admit my fatherly pride digged that and I sent my best friendemy a smirk. She flipped me off and turned to watch Brittany go bonkers over Eve's smiling little face.

Of course, as it happens, it got to be too much for the little girl and within moments she put up a wail that impressed my now sore ears. I lived with Rachel Berry, so I considered myself pretty knowledgeable – and somewhat immune - in all things containing noise.

Anyway, that's not important. What happened next is; Quinn went into Mother Mode and snatched Eve right out of Finn's arms, glaring hotly at him for allowing their kid to start crying in the first place before sitting down next to Rachel.

Finn rolled his eyes and walked over to the empty seat next to Mercedes and Kurt; not even bothering to argue with her. I frowned; this was not the guy that had panicked when Santana had threatened to ruin his relationship with Quinn; he sure as hell wasn't the guy that had promised - with tears in his eyes no less – to do everything he could to keep them both safe and happy in the delivery room.

Sneaking a glance at Quinn, I saw that she was fighting tears and she had trouble calming down Eve. I leaned over and scooped up the baby, happy that Eve didn't object in the least. Within seconds, she'd stopped fussing and had closed her eyes to sleep.

I could feel Finn's eyes burn into my back and I'm willing to bet a whole ass of money that he was now the one glaring at Quinn.

When class ended, I was putting the sleeping baby into the baby carrier that Quinn had placed on Brad's piano while Rachel went out to the truck to breastfeed in a more private setting. In the background, I heard what I'd been expecting for a good while now.

"What do you think you're playing at? Taking Drizzle away from me and then with no problem at all, handing her over to Puck. I mean, he's got his own baby."

Finn's tone was accusatory and almost a shout. I pretended I couldn't hear a thing, but slowed down my movements so that I didn't have to leave Quinn alone just yet. Also, this way I could jump in when she snapped, 'cause I had no doubts that it was heading in that direction.

And, sure enough, Quinn's tone was icy when she replied and full of what could only be months of resentment and exhaustion. "Yeah, he's got his own child; but unlike you, he's not afraid to do his share of the work."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Finn was shouting now, sounding defensive and angry.

"You've changed one diaper, Finn. One," Quinn held up a finger to drive her point home completely. "You've fed her three times since we left the hospital. Whenever she cries and is a genuine pain, you hand her over to the nearest person around. You're not a father, Finn; you're a damn playmate. And I'm sick of letting you act your age and blow us off with the lousiest excuses possible, just so you can play on your computer and hang out with your friends!"

"I have a right to live my life," Finn objected loudly, sounding indignant and hurt.

I held my breath for the oncoming explosion, 'cause, Man that was a stupid thing to say.

"You have responsibilities! I haven't had a night for myself since Eve was born; the only people that I can stand to be around are the Berry family – and Puck because he doesn't promise things he can't deliver. He's a real dad, doing his share of the work!"

"Well, if he's so great then I guess you're heartbroken that he wasn't the father! Sorry that you acting like a slut didn't pay off in the end! "

I'd spun around to, I don't know; kick the dude's ass for those remarks, but Quinn beat me to it. She pulled back her clenched hand and slammed it into Finn's face with all her might. I'm thinking the punch was full of all those months of bottled up feelings too, 'cause Finn actually faltered a bit backwards, holding his hands up to cup his aching nose.

"We're so over," she exclaimed in a low, cold voice that would've made my dick shrivel up if it'd been directed at me. "Have your mother call me to set up some visitation schedule for Eve. She's the only one that seems to honestly appreciate how wonderful my little girl is. Quit standing around like an idiot, Puck and let's go."

I handed the baby carrier to Quinn and walked out without a word, while hearing Finn's now shocked voice begging her to stop behind me. She didn't react and kept on going with a stony expression on her face.

Rachel frowned at our arrival, no doubt sensing that I was treading on some major eggshells. She watched in silence as Quinn pulled out her cell phone and called her mother to tell her that she was spending the night at our place. Then she made sure Eve was still sleeping peacefully, glancing at the carrier where Caroline was doing the same and then she turned to Rachel, took a deep breath and burst out into tears.

I just drove us all home in silence, knowing that this was something that my better half could deal with a hell of a lot better than me.

0o0o0

I spent the weekend trying not to annoy Rachel and Quinn, who were spending most of their time together and, according to Rach, "tried to salvage Quinn's wounded spirit before it vanished completely."

They talked and talked and cried and talked some more. At one point I walked into Rach's (and now mine) bedroom to change clothes after mowing the big ass lawn, only to be firmly shown the door by both girls. It was aggravating as hell, but I didn't dare complain, 'cause on one hand I kindda got why Quinn was so upset.

What neither female knew was that I'd gone to Finn's (and Kurt's I guess) house early Saturday morning to try and talk some sense into him. And maybe, kick his ass a little bit for his stupid comments – I still wasn't entirely over that you know…

It had been Carol who'd opened the door. She'd smiled halfheartedly at me; her feelings towards me had suffered a bit since she found out that I'd had sex with Quinn while she was in a relationship with her son.

"Finn home?" I drawled, trying to charm her like I used to do when I wanted some of her sweet banana bread.

"He's not feeling all that well," Carol replied, but opened the door a bit more, "I hope you can cheer him up a little. I'm gonna be late for work so have a nice day, Puck."

I just nodded and made my way to my best friend's room. Only, I wasn't really all that sure that the guy was my best friend anymore. Sure, he'd been there for me when Rachel had been in the hospital (both times) but lately, he had been acting weird and pretty irresponsible.

I didn't bother knocking on the door before I went in and fortunately for me, he wasn't in the middle of…well, jacking off or something like that. He just looked up from the picture book he'd gotten from the ever organizing Rachel, full of pictures of Eve and Quinn. I had one just like it; only difference was that it was full of pictures of Rach and Caroline.

"Hey Man," I greeted and sat down next to him on the bed. "Wanna talk about why you acted like a total douche towards your girl?"

Finn rolled his eyes, "Look, I'm not perfect okay. I love Drizzle, you know I do, but I'm just sick and tired of all those expectations Quinn's got for me. I'm just a kid too, you know. I'm not…well, you and it pisses me off that I'm suddenly the bad guy here because I suck at that gross baby stuff. I thought it would be enough to just love and cherish my kid and-"

"And what?" I interrupted, crossing my arms over my chest in an attempt to not smack him upside of the head, "the kid would just magically take care of herself and voila that'd be that? Sure it's important to love your kid, I know that more than anyone, but you chose, along with Quinn, to keep that little girl in your lives and that means you have a responsibility to her before anyone else. Whether you like it or not, Finn; you're not a kid anymore."

Finn looked dejected, hurt, defensive and angry at the same time. "I wasn't expecting this you know. I mean, she doesn't even smile at me anymore. She's all cold and tired and we've only had sex once since she gave birth…all she does is nag and moan about me not doing enough, she keeps bringing you and Rachel up to compare us and it's frustrating. I don't like the icky stuff; I can't help it but she doesn't understand. I'm tired, Puck."

"I get it, Dude," I slapped him on the back; maybe a little harder than required, 'cause he flinched a bit but who cares about that, "but consider this for a sec; if you're tired from not really doing any of the actual work; how do you think Quinn is doing?"

Finn didn't meet my gaze at my question and he turned his attention towards a picture of him holding Eve, while Quinn was smiling sweetly up at him, clearly showing that she hadn't lost her hopes for them yet.

"I don't wanna talk about it anymore," he finally said after a long moment of silence, "you're supposed to be my best friend, but you're totally on Quinn's side. Go back to Rachel and stop trying to act like you're so much better than me."

I got up and sighed. "I was actually trying to be a good friend to you, Finn. I just hope you won't lose out too much by being a stubborn ass." Then I left just as abruptly as I'd come.

Safe to say, I wasn't really looking forward to going to school Monday morning. Quinn had gone home to her mom's place late the previous evening, so I'd spent some time reaffirming to Rachel that I wasn't going anywhere and well…I was beat.

Anyway, I quickly lost all my thoughts about Finn for a time when I heard that Mr. Hummel, Kurt's dad had been rushed to the hospital and the doctors weren't sure if he'd make it.

Honestly, sometimes it's like my life is a fucking soap opera. One drama can't end before another begins. But I shook off the feeling and the glee club spent the next few days trying their damndest to cheer up Kurt. Things got even worse, 'cause suddenly Finn discovered religion and tried to put more focus on Jesus or whatever.

I was truly sorry for Kurt and all, but there's no way in hell I'm abandoning my Jew God so I spoke up – quickly parroted by Rachel and that put an end to that. Of course, Coach Sylvester got involved too, to stop any and all music about religion.

When the rest of the club found out that Kurt had actually orchestrated her involvement, I have to say I'm not proud of my fellow Gleeks. Some said that she was only doing it to be a pain, but I'd caught the look of genuine compassion on her otherwise emotionless face, so I didn't say anything. I mean, if it's okay to have a religion, why isn't it okay to not have one?

Fortunately, Kurt's dad woke up, so before long I could breathe easy again. Finn stopped praying to a damn sandwich, the rest of the Gleeks started remembering that Kurt was actually hurting and didn't need their shit and Rachel pointed out that it was so fortunate that we were both Jewish so we completely avoided such religious altercations regarding Caroline.

Crisis over in regards to Kurt and his dad, I resumed my project and once again tried getting through to Finn that even though I didn't understand his reluctance to take real care of his kid, then I was still his friend. Hell, I even helped him by borrowing him some of my spare shorts from my locker when that old Jesus sandwich gave him the runs (I've kept extra clothes in my locker ever since I started dating the most slushied individual at McKinley).

But to be fair, I think my laughing my ass off during the whole ordeal might not have helped matters - nor the fact that I texted about it to Mike, who told Tina, who told Mercedes, who told…well, everyone. But on the bright side, Quinn kept glaring daggers at me when she realized that I'd embarrassed her ex so I think there's still hope between them…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TWENTYNINE

Quinn didn't live at the Berry house any more, but damn, one would think so if they looked at the evidence. She stayed over all the fucking time and took away the few precious hours I could get alone with my girlfriend; it was like living with a pregnant chick all over again, 'cause Quinn was so high and low all the time.

One minute, she's all 'I'm woman hear me roar, 'cause I don't need no man', and the next she's weeping and wiping snot off in paper tissues while glaring at all the men in the house, and considering Rachel's dads work a lot that glare usually fixates on me.

And also, Caroline was going through her first cold and was not willing to cooperate when it came to the little things like you know sleeping for any extended periods of time…

So it wasn't really surprising that I was majorly exhausted and feeling pretty shitty as I made my way to glee, hoping against hope that it'd be a quick and easy class. But when has my hoping for anything ever really paid off?

As soon as I walked into the room, a little later than everybody else, ('cause I had actually fallen asleep in my seat in some useless class like History or something), I spotted Mr. Shue's goofy smile and knew that this was gonna suck – whatever it was.

It turned out to be some lame competition where we had to pair up and then sing a duet to win a free meal at Breadstix. I couldn't care less, 'cause I only had to bat my puppy dog eyes at Rachel and say something about being hungry and within ten minutes, I was holding something edible and delicious.

Although, now that I thought about it; it could be nice to take Rachel out on a proper date for once. But, I shook off my trail of thoughts, it wouldn't count, 'cause Shue would pay for it and there's no way in hell I'd let another man pay for my woman's meal. No way.

While I'd been debating whether or not I wanted to participate for real, most of the others had screeched with joy and I clearly heard Santana hiss something about winning in the background.

"Are they always like this?"

I looked to my right and met the new kid, Sam's curious, but amused gaze. I frowned at his sudden arrival, but apparently, he thought I didn't know who he was talking about, 'cause he just nodded with his chin in the direction of my fellow excited Gleeks.

"You have no idea," I said and turned to look at Rachel, whose beautiful eyes were lit up with a competitive fire that I hadn't seen in a while. Oddly enough, I'd missed it and hadn't even realized it. Judging from the narrowed eyes at Santana's bragging, I guess she had too.

Ten seconds later, everybody stopped abruptly when Sunshine held up a hand and asked who was gonna pair up with who. Rachel nearly pushed Kurt, Mercedes and Mike out of the way as she all but ran down to my side, grabbed my arm hard and declared that I was supposed to be her partner.

"Oh," Santana raised an eyebrow mockingly, "like that's any surprise."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, feeling slightly put out at being treated like a fucking doormat. I mean, don't give me wrong, I dig it when Rach gets all firm and shit, but still; this was a bit too much and I was getting defensive.

"Well, you're great as a backup singer," Santana taunted me, her eyes still burning with the desire to win, 'cause like I knew from having had the unfortunate pleasure of dating her once upon a time, she had an almost unhealthy obsession with Breadstix.

"You're being absolutely out of line," Rachel pointed out, her fingers digging into my skin a bit too tightly for me to enjoy it anymore. "Noah's singing capabilities are in the strong end of this group and I dare say he'd win with whomever he chose to sing with!"

Santana's dark eyes got a certain look in them that I recognized with a sinking feeling in my stomach. I tried to warn Rachel, and opened my mouth, but she completely ignored me; staring angrily at the cheerleader.

"Are you willing to put that to the test?" Santana purred, smirking arrogantly.

"O-Of course I am," Rachel replied, looking at me briefly with a mixture of apprehension and unhappiness in her eyes. "Noah can sing with whomever he wants and still win – taking away the fact that I am not competing against him obviously."

"So not only do you think Noah here can win, but you're not gonna participate?" Santana seemed smug and the rest of the people in the choir room were holding their breaths – even Mr. Shue.

"Yes that's correct." Rachel's voice had lost the slight hesitation of earlier and was now firm and full of determination.

I was totally confused and shocked; if I'd ever needed any proof of my girlfriend's love for me this was it. Rachel Berry was stepping aside from a fucking competition that'd have proved (yet again) just how much better than us she really was to make sure I could win.

Yeah, okay so it was a bit arrogant to say that I'd never have won if she'd been competing against me, but, come on; it's kindda the truth, ain't it?

Anyway, Rachel kissed my cheek and walked over to her abandoned seat to wait for us all to divide into pairs. Then she suddenly straightened back up and sent Santana a glare that actually made the Latina stop talking confidently with Mercedes of all people.

"What?" she asked, trying – and failing – to copy Rach's look.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd stop calling my boyfriend his given name. He hates it when people use it."

"You use it all the time," Kurt pointed out, stopping his ogling at Sam to look at Rachel with raised eyebrows.

"Well," Rachel smirked and looked over at me with this knowing look in her eyes, 'cause she knew her smirking always got me all hot and bothered if you know what I mean, "he loves me. Right, Noah?"

I grinned and nodded; completely ignoring the eye roll from Santana and the sly grins from the rest of them. I didn't give a shit, 'cause it's not like Rachel was wrong…

0o0o0

In the end, I ended up getting paired off with Sunshine. If I hadn't already been so sick of her, I'd have chosen Quinn, but first of all she'd walked over to Rachel and said that she didn't feel like competing either and secondly, Sunshine damn near ripped my arm off trying to drag me over to a corner where she proceeded to tell me that she'd do anything to help me win; apparently, her devotion to Rachel had blended over to me for the time being.

I didn't really care much about what song we were gonna sing and told her to pick. And while she took that to mean that she had to have Rachel's input and stormed over to her, I looked around and spotted Finn standing next to Mr. Shue, staring longingly at Quinn.

I hadn't really spoken with him since he'd told me to leave his house, so I had no idea what was going on with him, but evidently he still had the hots for Quinn. I just wished that he'd not forgotten that a bit in the midst of trying to avoid working his share when it came to Eve's needs.

The next few days passed pretty calmly for the most part. I mean, Caroline was still fussy and I was for once very grateful for Rachel's craziness 'cause she made damn sure everything was normal with our little girl; bringing up statistics from baby colds and crap. If someone from my old circle of friend would've told me that baby statistics and shit was the most interesting thing I'd ever learned, I'd have kicked their ass, but seriously whenever it involved my kid, nothing could be more interesting and important to study.

Anyway, I was put through so many fucking rehearsals with Sunshine to make sure that we'd nail it. Rachel and Sunshine both agreed on us having to win for some lame reason. Or, well, it was mostly Rach, 'cause Sunshine just nodded fervently whenever Rachel actually asked her of her opinion.

Finally, I had enough of being everybody's buttmonkey when Quinn started in on me too. She was sitting daintily watching Eve sleep in her stroller (she didn't let Caroling come near her these days and I couldn't blame her 'cause I'd do the same if it was reversed) and started commenting on how I should sing higher during that or use my natural grace to do better choreography there.

I stopped mid-song and turned to look at Quinn, I wouldn't have been surprised if I'd started blowing fire through my eyes in that moment. "Look Goldilocks, until you man the fuck up I'd prefer it if you kept your mouth shut. All right?"

"Excuse me?" Quinn crossed her arms and I mimicked her stance, utterly ignoring Sunshine and Rachel who were both trying to get me to focus on them again.

"I said, until you stop being such a coward and join the competition then I don't want to hear another peep out of you, got it?"

"I'm not afraid of this silly competition," Quinn objected. "I just don't see the point. I don't want to win a date or whatever at Breadstix, because I'm not dating anyone. Remember?"

"Big whoop," I rolled my eyes, "that's just an excuse. You're just too chicken-shit to participate 'cause you know you can't beat me or Sunny here." I gestured with a nod in Sunshine's direction.

Rachel and Sunshine gasped simultaneously while Quinn with seemingly calm movements got to her feet. There was a part of me that wanted to turn tail and run, 'cause I knew Quinn could be dangerous, but I stubbornly remained where I was.

"I assure you," Quinn's voice was made of ice and that urge to run reappeared, "I can most definitely win in any competition where you're my competitor."

Yeah, well, to sum things up, we kindda bet on it. I mean, how could we not? If something unexplainable happens and Quinn beats me, I have to babysit every time she needs me to for two months and if…no, when I beat her, she's gonna do my math homework for two weeks (I'd totally have gone for two months, but Rachel's raised eyebrow and scalding look made me dwindle it down a bit).

Well, anyway, it was just what I needed to get really into this stupid thing. I was gonna win me some better grades in math.

0o0o0

The next time few times we went to glee, I was fighting damn hard not to give into just a tiny bit of hesitation, 'cause Quinn kept giving me this superior look. It turned out that she'd somehow convinced Sam the Newbie to come over to the Dark Side. No wait, her side – but it's pretty much the same thing, right?

Anyway; his original duet partner, Beyonce was looking majorly bummed out, but Sam seemed way too interested in Quinn to switch back to the gay side. And that sucked, 'cause first of all, I still remembered how good a voice Sam had had during the quick audition he'd given us a few weeks back and secondly, I figured having Beyonce eyeball him with this predatorily look all the time would've freaked the guy out enough to forfeit.

Fortunately for my peace of mind, Rachel took it all pretty casually, stating that "our combined superior talent and her excessive knowledge would make anything Quinn and her no doubt subpar partner did seem wholly inadequate."

When we finally showed up in glee to start the main event so to speak, it turned out that there wasn't gonna be such a big pile of participants after all. Artie and Brittany dropped out of the contest, which was followed by a squeak of excitement from Rachel and a smug snort from Santana. Finn had decided not to join in at all, once he realized that he couldn't get Quinn to sing with him and unlike Kurt he didn't feel like going the solo route.

I gotta admit that Santana and Mercedes rocked it. Jumping around and just belting a pretty kickass song out was a good way to do things. Quinn and Sam's song was all fluffiness and rainbows and stuff. The moment they started singing together I knew it was gonna be difficult. Also, I couldn't help but notice the slight awed look that the newbie kept having on his face whenever he stared at Quinn (which was a lot, in case you didn't already know that).

Me and Sunshine were up last. It went to hell in a hand basket pretty much immediately after the first verse. Next to me, I could practically feel the fear induced nausea coming off of Sunshine. A few seconds after that, she just bent over and barfed all over the place. It was the grossest thing I've ever seen.

It was weird, 'cause we'd all seen her perform 'Listen' with no issues at all, but I guess having Rachel's obsessively coach you for a competition was bound to bring out the nerves. And judging from the fact that Sunshine had already revealed that she wasn't much of a front line singer, I really should've expected something like this.

So, unfortunately for me and my Man cards, no one voted for me – despite Rach's fierce attempts to volunteer as an alternate for Sunshine so people could actually see the song performed.

I was actually not entirely bummed about losing, but I could've gone without Santana and Quinn's self-satisfied expressions. Oh, who am I kidding? I wanted to win and not doing so sucked balls.

Once class ended, I persuaded a rather reluctant Rachel to come look for Sunshine. I was sort of worried she might have tried to drown herself for disappointing Rachel. To my surprise, Rach wasn't really upset at Sunshine for giving in to her stage fright; I guess she was just happy that the tiny Philippine girl had just proved that she would never take her spotlight.

A part of me briefly wondered if this had been my girl's plan all along. I mean, she was pretty devious and if I needed proof of it, all I had to do was chat up our local drug dealer and former glee teacher, Mr. Ryerson to get all the details.

Every thought about Rachel's possible master plan fled my mind, once we turned the last corner and came face to face with a giggling Sunshine, who was staring up at an equally smiling Finn. I cleared my throat, interrupting their moment of joy or whatever and Sunshine immediately flushed red in embarrassment and refused to do anything else but apologize to Rachel. That pissed me off a little bit 'cause it was my shoes that had caught some of her puke for fuck's sake.

0o0o0

Once we finally got home, I was a bit surprised to see Quinn of all people waiting. She gestured to me and I rolled my eyes mentally, already saying goodbye to my night, guessing she wanted a babysitter for a date with Newbie.

Rachel kissed my cheek and went inside the house to send the nanny home for the day. I walked over to Quinn and crossed my arms with a heavy sigh.

"Here," she blurted out and handed me the gift certificate to Breadstix that Mr. Shue had given her only hours earlier. "I want you to have it."

"What?" I frowned in confusion. "What the fuck for?"

"For eating, Moron," Quinn quipped and thrust the paper in my hand, damn near pulling my shoulder out in the process. "Look, I'm not good at this sort of thing, but I realize that I've been around a bit too much lately. Spending time with Sam has made me understand that I've been afraid to spend time with anyone else but you two, 'cause you're safe to be with."

"I don't follow."

"Oh, Puck," Quinn groaned, "I'm trying to mend some fences here. I know you're sick of me. I mean, I know you consider me a close friend and all, but I shouldn't intrude upon your time with Rachel as often as I've been doing in the past. I need to learn to be independent and a strong single mother, which I won't if I keep coming back here all the time. I don't want to wake up one morning and realize that I've grown scared of being alone; I love Finn, but I don't need him. And I wouldn't have figured that out without you bullying me to participate in the duets competition. So, I'll forego our bet and take Caroline for the night; Hiram assured me she was fully recovered now, and you'll take Rachel out to a nice evening at Breadstix. But," Quinn added with a small smile that reminded me of why I'd crushed on her before I fell in love with Rachel, "you might wanna take a shower first, because your clothes smell of vomit."

I grinned and pulled Quinn into a hug before damn near running into the house to do as she suggested, completely ignoring that part of me that had stated that it wasn't a real date if someone else paid for it; this was a gift from a friend.

And later that night when I was slowly pulling that sweet ass dress off of Rach that she'd worn to the great night at the restaurant, I spared a brief thought of thanks for Quinn and mutely promised myself that I'd make Finn grow up to be a great dad no matter what...

Of course, once Rachel slung her delectable legs around my waist all conscious thought left my mind entirely and I focused on sexing up my girl.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER THIRTY

"I must say, Noah that I'm truly impressed over your willingness to attend school despite your obvious lack of good health at the moment. Although, I feel that you're only doing it to prevent Caroline's second meeting with the common cold, so I must tell you that the chances of you passing it on to her only increases after being around so many individuals here and-"

"Babe," I held up a hand, while forcing back the shivers that just seemed to pop up whenever I moved, "stop; there's no way this is anything else than a small bug. I mean, I felt fine yesterday and I even choked down one of those nasty ass health smoothies that you and Hiram insist on brewing every morning."

Rachel looked at me, her eyes narrowed like she was figuring me out. Well, I felt like shit and my stomach hurt like hell but I still thought it was just a 24 hour bug and although I'd rather die than admit it, I kindda liked going to school these days. I liked that I could spend so much time with my girl without seeming like a total pussy.

I sent her a smile, trying to convey that I felt fine. It seemed to work a little, 'cause Rachel smiled back and pecked my cheek, making me promise to not sit in any drafty areas during classes. Nodding, I watched her walk to one of her numerous AP classes and then turned to walk to the nearest restroom to splash some cold water in my face, 'cause I felt awful; my stomach hurt and I was nauseous and just feeling like it be better to find a bed in the nurse's office and sleep the whole thing off.

Ten minutes later, after I'd talked myself out of skiving off class, I all but stumbled into my first class and immediately placed my aching head on my arms as I dozed off. Next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake and I blinked dazedly up at Kurt.

"Class ended five minutes ago; just thought you'd wanna know so Miss Diva doesn't find out you're and I quote her here, "not doing your best to uphold your scholastic achievements." Or something," Kurt finished with a small smile.

I forced myself to return the smile, realizing as I did it that I hadn't really seen Beyonce smile properly for a while. I mean, sure, he and Rach belted out a kickass sounding duo a few days ago, but still, he seemed sad, so the least I could do was not be a dick towards him all the time.

Fifteen minutes later, I entered P.E, jogging halfheartedly over to the guys that I used to… well you know, like. Azimo was chatting with some of the other football guys; he sent me a scathing look when I reached them, stopping next to Karofsky.

I got a confused look from Mike, who was standing over in the other end of the gym, but I just shrugged away his look and faked a smirk, 'cause honestly I could barely walk this far; there was no way in hell I was gonna go all the way over to him.

"You don't look so great Man," Dave's voice interrupted my stare at Mike, who'd long ago turned to chat amiably with Sam.

I turned my head a fraction to find David Karofsky actually looking somewhat concerned at me. "Dude, I'll always look better than you."

"Fuck off," Dave grinned briefly, oddly enough reminding me of Kurt for some reason. Then Dave looked away to answer something Azimo asked him and it came to me. He too looked like he hadn't really smiled in ages. I mean, sure, the dude always grinned and smiled whenever he threw a slushie or some shit like that (although, those hadn't been seen so often lately in his hands; he usually let Azimo do the deed), but his eyes never truly seemed like he was enjoying himself.

What happened next completely put Dave's mood or whatever out of my mind, 'cause Azimo decided to act like a total ass as was his usual M.O.

"Yo Puck, I saw Berry earlier, nice to see that her being a slut didn't ruin that kickass body. Now you just need to train the girl to speak like a real chick. Shouldn't be so hard though, being a teenage mom and stuff; she seems like she'd love to act like a whore all the time and-"

I pounced on my former friend and bully accomplice before he could finish his insults; so full of burning rage that all my earlier weakness disappeared momentarily. I managed to swing once, but even though I wasn't feeling anything other than pain, I couldn't lie about the fact that my strength was way below my normal standards. And Azimo wasn't exactly a little dude.

I'd cracked his right eyebrow so he looked like a fucking mess once he recovered from my punch and returned the favor. I managed to dodge his first attack, but then he feinted a move and struck my stomach with all his linebacker power and I doubled over, coughing up blood and wheezing for air that just didn't want to come.

All of this had taken nothing more than a few seconds, so no one but Dave had reached our side yet and him being a bit smarter than the rest of his so called friends, stayed out of the fight itself so he could give statement to what had happened. Although I very much doubted he'd tell the whole truth, 'cause he was like me in the aspect of always protecting his friends.

But nothing of that really mattered to me at that point in time; no, I was not getting better as my classmates and our gym teacher finally reached us. I kept gasping and wincing and suddenly, I started puking up a mix between that nasty smoothie Rach had assured me was actually good for me and blood.

It hurt like hell; never in my life had puking hurt so much and I knew that something was very wrong when I still couldn't really breathe.

"Puck!" Mike's concerned voice reached me as I kept trying to breathe.

"Dude, he looks kindda blue," one of Azimo's friends muttered, sounding scared.

"…fuck sake! He's supposed to be our friend, Jackass!" Dave growled behind me, probably to Azimo, who I could vaguely see out of the corner of my eye, looking both defensive and very scared of the way his punch caused me to react.

"Puckerman, look at me!" A stern voice pulled me out of my growing fear and I obeyed, 'cause one always obeyed Sue Sylvester's commands if you wanted to live.

She seemed unusually serious, looking into my eyes, seeming like my increasingly bloody state was entirely normal for her. "Breathe slowly; in and then out."

I tried, by God I tried, but it hurt and I couldn't focus, starting to panic. My mind began pulling out images of Rachel and Caroline; oh shit, who was gonna take care them if I died? I didn't want to die, I couldn't die here!

Choking out Rachel's name like a lovesick pussy, and probably looking like a fucking loser, I tried to stand up, but fell back to the floor with a mute groan. Black spots danced in my vision and I stared up at Coach Sylvester, still frantically trying – and failing – to breathe; her lips moved but all sound was gone and then people started parting behind her and I caught a glimpse of a anxious looking Rachel hurrying towards me before everything turned dark and I remember thinking that now I didn't have to time to help Quinn as I'd promised.

0o0o0

It was the sunlight in my face that woke me up; I blinked, totally surprised that I wasn't dead. And then I took a deep breath, enjoying that my ability to take in air had returned. It still hurt in my stomach, but it was nowhere near as painful as it had been, so I figured I was doing okay.

My change in breathing revealed my now awake state and a second later, Rachel was sitting next to me and that's when I realized I was in the hospital. "Rach," I whispered, happy to see the person I cared most for in the whole world.

"Oh Noah," she murmured, stroking my cheek softly as though she feared I would break. I remembered doing the same to her when she'd been the one lying in a hospital bed and I tried to make her see that I was fine again.

"I'm fine, Babe. It barely hurts anymore."

"You could've died," Rachel completely ignored my efforts; wiping a stray tear from her eye as she spoke. That brought my attention to the fact that she looked like crap. Her hair was uncombed and she was wearing the same clothes that she'd worn when I'd last seen her, although it looked rumbled and nowhere near as neat as was her usual preference.

"Noah, I don't tell you this often enough, but I truly love you. And also," Rachel added, wiping another tear away, "you're not allowed to die before me. I know that my personal life could increase in popularity if I'd lost you and went with the heartbroken image, but I'd rather be the most unpopular person for the rest of my life then lose you. I love you so much."

"Baby," I hesitated; it dawned on me that I might have been as close to death as my panicked state of mind thought just before I passed out and suddenly I was dying (no pun intended) to know what the hell happened.

Rachel must have seen the question in my eyes 'cause she started to fill in the blanks with a soft tone in her voice that made my heart ache in sympathy for her. "Apparently, you didn't have a 24-hour bug as we expected, nor a remnant of Caroline's cold passed on to you. It seems as though you had appendicitis and when that cretin, Azimo hit you hard in the stomach it perforated and…well, it turned pretty bad from there."

It seemed like Rachel couldn't really bear to think about what had happened in great detail, but I managed to get her to tell me that it had been three days since I'd had my operation and that, evidently, I'd had some kind of bad reaction to the narcotics on top of everything else and that's why I'd just not woken up until now.

Fuck, it'd been a close call indeed…

I looked over at Rachel who was still staring at me like I was the most interesting thing she'd ever laid her eyes on. Again, I remembered feeling like I shouldn't – couldn't – look away from Rach when she'd just woken up after her stint in the hospital, half afraid that she'd be gone if I even blinked.

"Come here, Rach," I demanded gently, lifting away my covers and shifting as much as I could to the side of the small bed.

"It really isn't appropriate-" Rachel began, but I cut her off and told her to get the fuck in, 'cause the air was cold on my barely covered dick and I didn't really like the feeling.

Slowly, and very carefully, Rachel climbed into bed with me and that's how my mother found us twenty minutes later.

She stood in the doorway and stared down at Rachel's now sleeping form next to me. It was clear to me that my girl hadn't slept since I'd been under the knife and I had no doubt that she'd taken care of Caroline simultaneously, eager for some connection with me to keep her sane while she waited for me to recover.

"She's sleeping," I informed the woman that had given birth to me coolly, "if you're gonna yell or shit like that, I'd prefer that you come back when Rach's not here."

"Noah," Ma began hesitantly, "I just wanted to see how you were. Your doctor told me you'd woken up. I'm not assigned to you but one of the other nurses told me I could take her job for the day.

Huh, so she'd quit drinking long enough to get her old nursing job back. A part of me was thrilled that my mother seemed to be getting back to normal. The rest of me didn't really care one way or another 'cause I had my own family to take care off now.

"I was here the day they brought you in." Ma informed me, "I hope you never have to experience your own kid being rolled past you on a gurney, covered in blood and who knows what else as doctors are trying to save her life."

"Yeah, me too," I acknowledged, not even letting the horrifying image of Caroline in such a state reach my mind.

"I'd like to apologize more sincerely for everything too," Ma blurted out as she stepped closer, picking up my chart on the end of the bed. "I haven't been the best mom in the world; but I'm getting better and I would really love if you and I could mend some fences. I've been visiting your sister and if things keep progressing as they're doing, I'm gonna get her home within a few months."

"I'm not moving out of the Berry house," I began, but my mother held up a hand.

"I know; and after seeing the way they all care about you, I wouldn't dream of it either. Besides, your place is with Rachel and your little girl. She's truly a beautiful child."

I frowned, wondering how in the hell Ma had seen Caroline, but again, my eyes gave me away and I got my explanation.

"Rachel wasn't handling your hospitalization very well; no one could get her to leave and she was almost hysterical until Abraham brought your little girl to her. Hiram's sitting out in the waiting room with her as we speak. She seems like a happy child; I haven't touched her if you're wondering about that. Even if I didn't think that I don't deserve it, Rachel and her dads are more ferocious than I'd care for and I don't think I'd be alive after asking to hold my grandchild."

I looked down at a deeply sleeping Rachel before looking back up at my mother. "If you keep this mature act up and keep being a good mother for Hannah, we'll talk about letting you meet Caroline properly some day."

"Thank you, Noah," Ma looked so relieved that I had to swallow a lump of something, 'cause despite everything, it's really hard not to love one's mother.

"Could you go and get Hiram and Caroline in here, please? I need to see her."

Ma nodded and walked out and a few minutes later, Hiram practically ran into the room, holding a sleeping Caroline in his arms. His eyes lit up once he saw me awake and then he freaked me the hell out by starting to cry and mutter something about his happiness at seeing me alive.

I smiled, 'cause crazy as it seemed, Rachel's dads had become my parents too and I loved them as much as they loved me. "I'm gonna be fine Hiram," I said and reached up a hand to pat him on the arm that wasn't carrying my daughter. That really set him off and he started weeping with joy and promised that I would get the best care available until my recovery.

There were days when I doubted Rachel had come from either of her dads, not seeing the similarity. Today was not one of those days and I was totally okay with having a forty two year old man slobbering all over me 'cause unlike some people, like Azimo, I was no longer a victim of my popularity and fuck was I happy about that.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER THIRTYONE

A few days later, I was finally allowed to go home and although I gotta admit to milking the whole being sick and stuff, I was itching to get some of my normal routines back.

Which is why, five days later, I was exiting Abraham's car right after Rachel, who'd insisted quite firmly that I wasn't permitted to drive yet due to a slim chance of me relapsing. If you ask me, I think she just wanted to be able to sit next to me without worrying about distracting me from the traffic, 'cause my baby loved the not so casual touch every now and again, if you know what I mean.

It was pretty weird being back to be honest. First thing I noticed was the stares; normally, I was used to the stares that came from both being a bad ass motherfucker and you know…Rachel Berry's boyfriend, but it was the first time I recalled seeing genuine sympathy in their eyes. Hell, they were even sparing a few non mocking glances for Rachel, something which seemed to confuse her more than please her.

The teachers were surprisingly lenient on me too and I guess it comes with almost dying so I didn't let it go to my head, reminding myself that sooner rather than later they'd resume their "make Puckerman realize he's a stupid individual- deal".

When it was time for glee to start, I had had enough of being treated like an invalid. Sure, I was pretty much unable to do much of anything, but I was ready to get back to normal as smoothly as I could.

Only, as it turned out, it was gonna be one of those weird days again where Mr. Shue was planning something retarded. Everyone gasped with varying degrees of joy and surprise when he announced we'd be doing Rocky Horror for the school's musical, but I knew that the only reason he was making us do that crap had something to do with the fact that I'd caught Miss Pillsbury humming, 'Timewarp' during that brief counseling session she'd roped me into when she'd spotted me walking carefully by her earlier in the day.

Evidently, me almost dying had earned me a full on 'if you saw the light, just remember it'll still be there later'- session. Insert mocking eye roll here, please.

Anyway, Rachel immediately volunteered herself for the role of some chick named Janet and was about to make me be someone called, Brad, but then she seemed to hesitate, obviously remembering that I couldn't really participate in the whole thing. For the first time, I was stoked, 'cause I was not looking forward to doing some lame ass musical.

Only, as it turned out, it wasn't exactly a normal, boring musical. According to the brief summary, Rachel threw at me in-between the other Gleeks being casted, it was pretty cool and there was even a she-male in it and everything.

I tuned back in to the conversation, once I heard Newbie proclaim that he wasn't ashamed of his body and cursed inwardly. If I'd known it was gonna be a thing where I got to show off my incredible bod, I'd have waited with the whole almost dying crap. You know, if it had been possible and all…

As the class progressed, I had to admit to feeling pretty drained and a little bit nauseous. I'd lost my appetite after my operation and it hadn't really returned yet so I was weaker than I'd like to acknowledge – even to myself. Instead, I got up and caught Rach's attention in-between her almost directing Finn as this Brad dude.

She took one look at me and paled, evidently, she still feared that I'd drop dead in front of her, so I hurried to explain, "Rach, I'm just more tired than I thought I'd be. So…Uhm, I'm gonna head down to the nurse's office and take a little nap, okay?" Fuck off, I wasn't asking for her permission…I wasn't!

"I'll come too," Rachel said, already grabbing her trolley, but I shook my head.

"Babe, I'm fine, just tired. Come get me when it's time to head home okay. Oh, that reminds me," I added, looking over her shoulder to look at Mr. Shue, who was watching Mike with a smug smirk playing on his lips. "Shue, I'm taking a break, not skipping class."

The curly haired teacher just nodded, apparently since I couldn't really participate in his musical, I wasn't worth much to him at the moment. That was fine by me, as long as I'd be able to get some sleep soon.

I bent down and kissed Rachel briefly on the lips, took her by her shoulders and turned her around to face a confused looking Finn, who was listening to Sunshine explaining the play to him in as simple terms as she could. "Enjoy yourself, Berry."

I exited the choir room and started making my way down the hall to the nurse's office, growing eager to lay down as soon as possible, 'cause I was exhausted all of the sudden. As I turned a corner, I stopped involuntarily. Right there in front of me was Azimo, who was having what seemed like a whispered argument with Dave.

My abrupt stop must have registered in Dave's eyesight 'cause he stopped speaking a second later, turning to look over at me fully. "Hey Puck," he greeted, "good to see you back on your feet."

"Thanks," I replied, trying to act less weak by leaning casually up against the wall behind me. "Good to be back."

Azimo didn't move at first, but then he slowly turned around to look at me, flinching uncharacteristically when he realized that I was staring right at him. "H-hey Man," he muttered.

I raised a brow silently, and Azimo didn't seem to know how to react, so he just huffed arrogantly and walked away without a second glance at either me or Dave, who'd walked over to me in the meantime.

"He just got back from his suspension today; he's sorry but too fucking stubborn to say it." He explained lowly to me, eying me seriously before adding, "But, Dude, not to bring you down or anything, you really look like shit."

"Still looking better than you," I couldn't help but retort, smiling tiredly, allowing myself to let my weakness shine through. "Actually I'm going to the nurse's office to chill for a bit." I decided to be honest, knowing that Dave wouldn't rat me out; I mean, if the guy was arguing on my behalf with his best bud, I was pretty sure he was on my side and when he spoke next, I was proved right.

"Need a hand?" Dave didn't wait for my answer; he just wrapped my arm around his shoulder and began leading me in the direction of my self-appointed goal.

Once we finally reached the damn office, Dave stuck around for a bit; waiting for me to get comfortable on the small cot. "Can I ask you a question?" he said, without taking his eyes away from the rubber gloves sitting next to him on a shelf while the school's nurse hobbled around, trying to find me a blanket ( the old chick had never really regained her full balance after her fall off the stairs last year).

"Sure, but make it snappy, 'cause I've only got till Rach's done with glee and I need to power up before heading home and spending time with Caroline."

"See, that's just it," Dave blurted out, confusing the hell out of me with his sudden eagerness. "You used to be one of us; all badass and shit. No one did anything or anyone that you hadn't done first. And now you prance around dancing and singing like a fucking fagg-"

"Don't say that word," I interrupted, opening my eyes to show that I was very serious about that. I'd never had anything against gay people, but I'd never been afraid to use derogatory words either, not until I'd gotten to know not only Rachel's dads, but Kurt as well. It was fucked up to demean people for something as insignificant as their sexuality; what people did in bed (or other places) didn't matter. How they were mattered…

Aw fuck, Rachel's really done a number on me, huh?

Anyway, Dave's mouth snapped shut with a small click at my interruption, but after a few breaths, he continued more quietly, "What I was getting at was the fact that you no longer seem to give a shit about what people think. I mean, you didn't use to back before you hooked up with Berry, but still, you respected the way things work. Geeks hang with their own kind and we don't socialize with them. Now you're all different and the way you look at Berry or your kid make it seem like you don't care about anyone's opinion other than theirs."

"Well that's basically true," I admitted, eyeing my once upon close friend intensely. "What's your point, Karofsky?"

"How do you…well," Dave ran a hand through his short hair and met my stare head on, seemingly very interested in my answer, "how do you not fear people's reaction and shit? Aren't you scared of being different?"

Slowly I sat up; ignoring the small jolt of pain that still lingered in my abdomen and sighed. "No," it was the truth too; as long as I had Rach on my side I didn't give a fuck about what people thought. "I'm not. Yeah, sure it sucks that people are so narrow-minded that they can't see what a great person Rach is; hell, how fucking awesome all of those Gleeks are. But as long as we've got each other to lean on, it doesn't matter. All you need is this one person or group that you can tell all to and things don't seem so tough anymore…"

I chuckled and mimicked Dave's earlier movement and ran a hand through my 'hawk. "Fuck, Man, I sound like a Doctor Phil Special. Sorry about that. But…" I paused and looked at Dave's still serious looking face, "I hope that helps you a little…and if it didn't; go away and bug someone else 'cause I'm beat and I need to sleep."

Dave's face broke into a rare grin and we gave each other a silent fist bump before he exited the nurse's office to let me sleep.

As I laid there, I couldn't help but wonder what was going on with my old pal, but I was too tired to worry about it too much and it didn't take more than a few minutes before I fell asleep.

0o0o0

A few days later, the whole musical thing fell apart. It sucked major ass too, 'cause we'd put up with Coach Sylvester's interference only to have the whole thing cancelled by Shue, who'd (just like I'd suspected) revealed to have set the whole thing up as a way to get into Miss Pillsbury's super hygienic pants.

It was a major letdown considering the entire Berry residence – and in particularly me and Caroline – had suffered through endless run-throughs of the songs that Rach was supposed to memorize. Don't get me wrong it sounded good, but I was getting tired of her screeching like a banshee and falling down 'cause Mercedes was gonna dress up as a she-male in women's clothes or something.

Then Shue orchestrated us all to perform just for him (and me, who still didn't really have the energy to join in) on stage and I settled down to enjoy the whole thing; although I did send Mr. Shue some glares every now and again 'cause the other Gleeks might have forgiven him, but I'm a master at keeping grudges.

"So Baby Daddy," Coach Sylvester's voice startled me out of such a glare, just as Kurt led Rachel and a dorky looking Finn on stage for their upcoming performance. "It's rather disappointing that you haven't been to see me to make arrangements."

"Uh," I muttered, letting my confusion shine through my eyes and looked up at Rach to see her "pass out elegantly while portraying her character's emotional distress over her unforeseen circumstances." (Guess one time who told me that?)

"Well it is." Coach Sylvester's voice prompted me to look back at her surprisingly serious face. It was odd seeing her like this since she'd spent the last week acting like a fucking asshole on stage, interrupting everything with her stupid comments and what not.

"Look, I don't know what you're getting at, Coach Sylvester," I decided to be frank, hoping that she wouldn't freak the hell out on me, 'cause even when I was feeling fine I hesitated wrestling with the insanity that was our cheerleading squad's coach.

"I've always liked you, Baby Daddy," Coach Sylvester said, staring up at the stage with a mocking glare in her eyes before turning to look at me, "even if you knocked up Little Miss Diva and forced me to give you a new name, so I assumed you'd know to come to me so we could whip up some kind of plan to annihilate that Azimo kid."

I frowned, not really digging where she was heading and straightened up, matching her stance. "Why do you care so much? Azimo is an ass and I'll deal with him once I'm able to lift my kid without cringing, but he's never done anything to you or disrespected the Cheerio's more than I ever did; so…Why do you care? And don't say it's 'cause you dig me, 'cause I know bullshit when I hear it."

Yeah, okay, so my interrogation skills weren't top notch, but at least it got my point across and I watched with furrowed brows as Coach Sylvester's eyes darkened and she looked…well, human for a second (frankly; it creeped me the hell out.).

"I don't like bullies. They're always after people who're different, even if those people can't help being so, and I don't like that," she said seriously and then continued in her normal tone of voice a long second later, when I still hadn't spoken, "but I guess I should've suspected your unwillingness to do something involving balls, considering how much time you spend around Shuester."

And then she was gone, as quickly as she'd arrived, leaving me even more confused than before – and a little bit scared for Azimo's continued existence to tell ya the truth…

0o0o0

A few days later, on a Saturday, I was sitting with a finally almost sleeping Caroline in my arms and an already sleeping Rachel next to me. Caroline hadn't had a great night and Rach had insisted on being the one to get up every time, telling me to preserve my energy so I'd heal completely and all that crap.

Which only meant that a) Caroline was fussy and uncooperative the entire next day and b) Rach's own energy levels were severely depleted, causing her to sleep more or less like a dead person…or, my Uncle Ira after a bender.

Then, just as Caroline had closed her little eyes without opening them again, the doorbell rang and she broke out into an indignant cry at the disturbance. Rachel didn't move a muscle and I got up to answer the door as fast as I could in my still slightly sluggish condition to keep her resting peacefully.

Holding my still wailing daughter in my arm, I opened the door before the visitor could press the doorbell one more time. "What?" Yeah, okay, so I'd never been the most polite person in the world and I wasn't exactly A-Okay myself at that moment in time.

"Uh, hi…" To my surprise, it was Dave and he looked pretty fucking confused at my abrupt appearance. I guess I looked more like shit than I thought, but fortunately for him, he didn't say anything about it. He just shrugged a bit when I still stood staring at him a few minutes later.

"So…uhm, gonna let me in?"

"Y-Yeah sure Man, come on in. Sorry 'bout the mess. This little lady ain't the most cooperative person today so we've tried to distract her as much as possible." I explained when I caught Dave's raised brows at the scattered toys and blankets all around the living room.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rachel move and I quickly handed over my weeping daughter to a startled looking Dave with the words, "drop her and I'll kill you," before I all but ran over to my girl's side to cover her with a blanket.

"Was that the doorbell?" Rach mumbled without opening her eyes, and I smiled as I tucked her in on the couch.

"Ssh, just sleep, Babe; I got it. I'll wake you when Hiram and Abe get home from their date so we can eat."

Rachel just smiled; already sleeping again and I got back to my feet and walked back over to Dave, daring him to say anything with my eyes. He wisely chose to keep his mouth shut, opting instead to focus on a now giggling Caroline.

"How'd you do that, Dog? She's been Miss Crankypants all day." I grinned, taking Caroline back into my own arms and my earlier annoyance with her evaporated at once when she looked at me and her giggling turned into a full blown toothless grin. This was what reminded me of why I put up with all the work and crap (literally); this little bundle loved me just as much as I loved her and it was just awesome.

"Should I come back later?" Dave's amused voice tore me out of my adoring stare at my kid and I rolled my eyes at him and gave him the one fingered salute in response, before leading him out to the kitchen.

"So, what do you want?" I asked, after taking out a bottle of Mountain Dew and throwing it to him. "Not that I'm not stoked to have my Saturday invaded by an old friend, but seriously, I doubt you've ever set foot in this house before; the closest might have been the time we TP'ed the house in ninth grade."

"Oh yeah," Dave smiled sheepishly, seemingly embarrassed at having been a part of that, apparently totally forgetting that I'd been the instigator behind the whole thing in the first place – and yes, we've already established that I used to be a dick towards Rach, so get over it.

We stood in an awkward silence for a little while until Dave cleared his throat and looked up at me. "So…uhm, I decided that you were right…and err…" he paused and I got sick of waiting for him.

"Spit it out Man, it can't be that bad. I'm not gonna kick you out or anything so spill before you ruin what's left of my Saturday."

"I think I might be gay," Dave blurted out and I damn near dropped my kid. I quickly put her in her basinet before turning back to Dave, who'd paled the moments the words had left his mouth. Then he took a deep breath and continued in a rush, "and I think I might be in love with Kurt Hummel…"

I was frozen solid with surprise. My reaction seemed to freak out Dave even more 'cause he got to his feet and made his way for the door. "Yo!" I called out to him and he turned around to me, not meeting my eyes.

"If you wanna get with Kurt, you might wanna lay off the dumpster dives and shit like that…"

Dave blinked, seeming just as shocked as I was at my comment. What? I'd never given a guy tips to catch another guy before…I took a chance and added with a smile, "I'm kindda insulted that you went for the little dude, 'cause I'm way hotter than he is. Taken, yeah, but hotter."

Again, Dave looked like he didn't know whether to cry or laugh, so instead he just snorted and shook his head. "Don't tell anyone, okay? Please." he said, after another long silence where I was trying to wrap my head around things more clearly.

I nodded mutely and watched him leave in silence. I have no idea how long I stood there, staring at the now closed door. At last, I turned back to get Caroline, who'd finally caved and fallen asleep while I'd been standing around like an fucking idiot.

I sighed and sat down on the couch and gently placed Rach's feet in my lab while I turned off my cell phone, deciding that I'd had just about enough drama for now and then I tried to copy my two girls and go to sleep for a little bit.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER THIRTYTWO

"Damn it, Babe; stop gawking at him or else he'll know." I hissed, dragging my annoyingly kindhearted girlfriend into my side as I finished pulling out the books I'd need for my next class.

"Honestly Noah," Rachel rolled her eyes and pointed at the book I'd need (okay, so she knew my schedule better than I did, so what? I mean, have you seen some of her day planners? That chick knew more about everyone's business than well…everyone.)

Which brings me back to what she was exclaiming in her usual dramatic way. "I would think that me knowing about everything would be more of a good thing than a hindrance. I mean, amongst McKinley's population, I can be considered somewhat of an expert of the matter. I could be of great assistance."

"I know that, Rach," I sighed, closing my locker a bit harder than intended and seemingly frightening the freshman next to us to grab her stuff and run like hell. "But you're not even supposed to know anything about it. I promised the dude my secrecy and shit, okay?"

"Honestly Noah," Rachel repeated, sounding as though she couldn't quite make up her mind whether she was exasperated or proud. "David Karofsky's sexual preference will go no further and I'm sure that he's willing to see that his homosex-"

Noticing some of Dave's and my teammates walking by us, I abruptly held up my hand to cover Rachel's mouth, inwardly wincing as I saw my chances of getting laid that night flying out the window. What one didn't do for friendship. Fuck…

Mark, one of the only guys that had never really outright mocked me for my choice in girlfriend, looked at me with a bemused smile as they all passed us, but blissfully he didn't say anything. A quick glance told me that Dave was done rummaging through his own locker and had vanished while I was trying to hide the fact that I couldn't keep a secret from Rachel if my fucking life depended on it.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of orange curls and turned my head a fraction to look into a surprisingly serious looking Jacob's eyes. As soon as our eyes met, his widened to an almost impossible degree, but as I watched, something in them struck me as odd; he didn't look as petrified of me as he'd been ever since my last real encounter with him. Before I could say anything it though, Rachel kicked me hard in the shin and I quickly let go of her to rub my injured limb.

"What the hell, Woman?" I growled, trying not to look a total idiot dancing around on one leg. I heard Jacob snicker in the back ground and sent him a threatening glare that had him meep like a frightened mouse and disappear down the hall with a speed I knew for a fact that they could've used on the track team.

"Now that I'm able to breathe again, Noah, we're late for class." Rachel's acid tone brought me back to the present and I sent her my best attempts at puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry Babe, I didn't mean to do that; you know I don't think before I act sometimes." Then I added with the meekest voice I could and diverted my eyes bashfully, "I'm not as smart as you give me credit for all the time, Baby." (Hells yeah, she ain't the only actress in our family anymore hehe. Or …you know, actor, 'cause I'm a dude and all…)

Rachel stared at me for what felt like forever, but I kept my innocent expression on and tried not to overdo it and after a few moments, she broke into a forgiving smile, grabbed my hand and pulled me in the direction of our next class; one of the few that we actually shared and where I usually spent my time doodling and staring at her as covertly as I could.

Shut up, Rach is a fine ass woman and if you'd seen her naked, I doubt you could keep from ogling her either.

0o0o0

Mr. Shue surprised me a bit in glee club later that week. For once he was actually thinking about the upcoming Sectionals that Rach kept pestering us all about. He initiated another competition that would be girls versus boys again and we all had a small chuckle moment when a frustrated looking Kurt was told to return to the boys' side just like last time around.

Not for the first time, I noticed that the flamboyant teen wasn't exactly so flamboyant anymore. But I shook it off when an excited looking Artie started spitting out ideas for our upcoming contest.

It was pretty cool and Rach made it even better once we got home and she somehow got me into a competitive mood by declaring that the women would win this year. Her dads shook their heads at our shenanigans and went into the kitchen to do the dishes, while Rach and I just laughed and got Caroline ready for her evening stroll.

The idea of walking with our kid before putting her down to sleep had originally been Rachel's; something about fresh air and better sleep patterns and what not, but I found myself liking it. I felt real grown up, however lame that sounds.

I mean, sure, some people did look at us a bit sideways when we walked by 'cause no matter what circumstances, people always seem to judge teenage parents, but, it was by far the minor percentage of the people we met, and I just enjoyed walking with my family – and yeah, I know how corny it sounds, but I don't give a shit anymore.

Caroline was asleep within minutes; she too seemed to enjoy our evenings out and I looked over at Rachel, who was looking thoughtful.

"What's up, Babe?"

"I know you said that I shouldn't get involved with the whole David Karofsky thing, but-"

"Argh," I groaned and stopped walking to look at her with a mild glare. "I told you not to butt in; I know you mean well and all, but he specifically asked me to keep my mouth shut."

"I know, Noah and I'm sorry that I keep bringing it up." Rachel replied, looking surprisingly truthful, "I guess that my best intentions will remain untapped in this instance, although I am always available, should you require any assistance. I'm the perfect advocate for the gay community; I do have two gay dads."

I wisely refrained from rolling my eyes at that last comment; to Rach, her dads were the best in the world and could solve anything. And sure, since I'd gotten to know them I kindda felt the same way, but that didn't mean that Rach's go to response wasn't a bit aggravating at times.

I just settled on kissing her quickly on the lips and then we turned to head back home. Only, a second later, I noticed a familiar form walking on the opposite of the road and I stopped instinctively.

It was my mother. The darkness hid us from herstill, so I quickly grabbed the baby carriage with one hand and Rachel with the other and doubled our speed before Ma spotted us. Rachel squeaked indignantly at first, but then she followed my eyes and kept quiet, only giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.

I'd told her all about Ma's visit when I'd been in the hospital, so she totally understood why I wasn't really ready to mend all fences just yet. And, I knew that she still harbored some pretty intense feelings of dislike for my mother due to how she'd treated me – especially since getting Rachel pregnant.

When we got home, I took Caroline in my arms and changed her, before settling in to the rocking chair that stood next to her crib. As I stared down at the tiny human in my arms, I vowed – not for the first time – that I'd never judge her or abandon her; that I'd always support her no matter what.

Rachel woke me up sometime later when she gently pried Caroline's sleeping form out of my arms and placed her in her own little bed. Then she took my hand and silently led me into our bedroom and proceeded to take my mind of my crappy childhood in the best way possible.

0o0o0

The next few days got pretty hectic. Kurt was still getting bullied by Dave, and judging from what I'd heard it was only getting worse and I promised myself I'd talk to the closet gay guy before things got too out of hand.

Kurt's mood seemed darker than ever and now even Mr. Shue realized it and he switched up the assignment so we had to sing some girly songs instead. I'd probably have been a total dick about it to Kurt if I hadn't changed as much as I had over the last year, but instead, Rach and I came up with the plan that he needed distraction and I sort of pressured him to go spy on our competition for Sectionals; some all boys' group that came from this preppy school that sounded seriously snobbish.

It seemed to have worked though, 'cause the day the girls were gonna perform, he more or less strutted into the choir room with a renewed light in his eyes and I gave myself a mental congratulatory pat on the shoulder, telling myself silently that I was still The Man (not that I'd ever doubted that in the first place).

Then the lights in the choir room started flashing in different colors, just as the door opened and my mind went absolutely blank. Seriously, you could have had a party in there; full of naked chicks and I wouldn't even have noticed. All my attention was on my girlfriend.

Rachel Berry in Leather…need I say more? I grabbed my book bag and quickly placed it in my lap to hide the fact that I had a boner like a fifth grader staring at a pair of boobs for the first time. Fuck, she was hot!

I heard a pair of strangled moans next to me and spared a quick reluctant glance to see what it was. It turned out to be Finn and Sam that both looked like they'd been smacked in the head by a ton of bricks. Their eyes were locked on Quinn, who looked pretty hot too if I had to be perfectly honest.

But I barely spent any time thinking about the blonde that I'd used to crush on, 'cause Rachel damn near went into a split in front of me, sending me those smoldering looks that she usually reserved for the bedroom. Finn and Sam weren't the only ones groaning anymore after that…

When the girls finished their song, Rachel sauntered over to me and sent me a knowing smile when she caught sight of the bag in my lap. Fortunately she didn't say anything and turned to chat with Quinn, whose eyes were busy flying between the two boys that were very much willing to be with her.

I noticed that all the guys sent me envious looks and I laughed when we all –except Kurt – walked to the locker room to change for our football practice a little later in the day. Practice was as gruesome as ever (Coach Beiste may be a bit unconventional in some aspects, but she's kickass at her job!), and I wasn't still allowed to participate full on 'cause of you know what. But, Coach Beiste had loosened up a bit and allowed me to practice some tackling with Mike though, which is why I was panting like a fucking dweeb with asthma.

Mike might be a tiny, flexible Asian, but damn, he's stronger than he looks.

I noticed, halfway through the practice that all the glee guys – even Artie for fucks sake – were always in one way or another in-between me and Azimo. From the looks they sent him every now and again, I was surprised he was still breathing. I guess carrying a grudge isn't just something PMS'ing chicks do.

Once we were through for the day; I was walking a bit behind the others, trying to catch my breath without letting any of my fatigue show too plainly. Fuck, I hated being weak and promised myself then and there that I'd pick up on the exercise from now on.

Azimo walked by us all quickly with Dave at his heels. The latter sent me a sheepish look that told me he really wanted to take back what he'd told me, but knew it was too late. I just shrugged and turned my attention back to my fellow Gleeks and caught the end tale of something about picturing someone in a pink tutu so they didn't get off too fast.

Grinning, I slapped Mike in the back, fully secure in my own abilities to perform adequately. "Dudes; you shock me."

"Fuck off, Puck;" Finn demanded with annoyance clearly etched in his voice, "you'd need cold showers too, if you weren't with Rachel now that she's giving it up all the time."

Immediately, all fun and games turned into something darker and I straightened my stance ominously. "Calling my girl a slut, Hudson?"

Finn's eyes widened, along with the other Gleeks; hell, even some of the other team members straightened up, knowing that if things didn't get fixed ASAP, someone was getting a major smack down. I may still have been a bit injured, but everyone knew that if I really got angry, I was dangerous. Azimo's attack had only been successful due to me feeling like shit.

"No, Man, I'd never do that!" Finn backtracked frantically, "I just meant; the rest of us can't get any lately and…" he trailed off hesitantly.

A bit mollified, I nodded mutely and waited for the rest of the story. Sam sighed and took over when Finn's blushing face told us that he wasn't gonna risk saying another word.

"Well, we figured out that the only way to keep us from not…err…well, we needed to think of something truly disgusting, so we started using the Coach and it's worked like a charm."

Once again, I was fully aware of the fact that I'd changed over the last year, 'cause I just couldn't see what was so great in what they were doing. I mean, Coach Beiste was sort of the best thing that had ever happened to our school and I was just about to say that out loud, when everyone froze at hearing Coach Beiste's shocked and hurt voice asking for an explanation.

0o0o0

Shit pretty much hit the fan after that and we all did our best to make the (rightfully so) humiliated Coach not quit her job and we all performed this cheesy ass song as an apology a few days later. Hell, even Shue pitched in and kissed the broad, which kindda made me like the dude a little bit again.

Thankfully it worked and when we got home that afternoon, I spent some time with a slightly fussy Caroline before getting ready to go on a run; something that I'd started up again in an attempt to get my fitness back into the 'Puckersauraus-level'. So far it was working great and I was feeling pretty good about myself.

I shouted out a greeting to Abraham, who was sitting in the living room, taking the chance to watch some sports while Rachel and Hiram were cooking dinner.

I opened the front door and began stretching. After a few minutes, I heard a vague sound and looked up, meeting Dave's eyes. "Dude," I said, teasing lightly, "I know you didn't just check out my fabtabulous ass."

There wasn't any real reaction from the other jock and I frowned a bit. Looking closer, I saw that he was flushed and sweaty with an almost haunted look in his eyes. He looked nothing like himself in that moment and I knew something was up.

"Come on, Man, talk to me," I said, walking over to stand in front of Dave, who still hadn't moved a muscle. "What's wrong? I'm not gonna judge," I added softly as though I was speaking to a frightened animal and it seemed to do the trick 'cause in the next second, Dave looked back into my eyes and I damn near bolted when I realized the guy was tearing up.

"I think I screwed up, Puck," was all Dave said before suddenly turning around to leave.

It was only my quick movement to grab his arm that stopped him from running away. "You ain't going nowhere," I stated calmly, "we're gonna go inside and you're gonna tell me what the hell's going on in that head of yours."

"B-But Berry," Dave objected haltingly and I swallowed down a small sigh when I realized that I was gonna have to say something that usually was reserved for Rach.

"Don't worry; I mean…She's got two gay dads…"

Dave chuckled tiredly and ran a hand over his face, wiping off the few tears he hadn't been able to suppress entirely. "Yeah, well, considering what I did today, I don't think that's gonna be enough to stop her from kicking my ass."

And then he proceeded to tell me what had driven him to show up on my doorstep so unexpectedly and I quickly steered him over to my truck so we could head to McDonalds or something, 'cause after hearing everything, I wasn't chancing on letting him near Rachel anytime soon…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER THIRTYTHREE

Well, things between the jocks and the Gleeks soured even more after Dave screwed up big time and for some lame gay reason decided to be a brute and kiss Kurt. Sure, it'd probably have reached devastating levels if anyone but me knew about that particular event; but still – it hadn't gone unnoticed by the two groups.

For one thing, Dave acted even more like a jackass after he'd confessed the locker room smooching to me and got his teammates to escalate the vendetta against the Gleeks; Kurt in particular.

Which meant that the New Directions were showing a rare unity in their attempt of protecting Kurt, who'd started looking like a less Beyoncified version of himself. The dude was still focused on his fashion and all his usual crap, but something was missing and it didn't take a scientist to see that the guy was unhappy.

I'd tried to talk to Dave again, but he told me to stay out of his business and then he committed the ultimate sin in my eyes, he threatened to get the team to go after Rachel if I even breathed a word of what I knew. And I wasn't having any of that shit, so I clocked him and told him to stop acting like a coward and washed my hands off of him.

No seriously, I washed my hands, 'cause the dude's nose sprouted blood like a leaking facet.

I'll help my friends with pretty much anything, but insult and threaten my baby's mama and the friendship's over as far as I'm concerned. I walked away, pretending that I didn't see the flash of regret and guilt in Dave's quickly bruising eyes.

Anyway, Dave's shitty life problems aside, we were heading into a new scenario at school. First of all, there was this nasty ass bug going around and Rachel pretty much forced me to go wash my hands between classes and always carry some hand sanitizer in my school bag in the same quantity as Miss Pillsbury, to, as she put it, "avoid the bacteria's that may mutate into something even more horrendous that we'll risk taking home to our child. Don't you want our daughter to live past her first six months of life, Noah?"

No one could guilt you into doing something like a hot ass Jewish mother…or to be fair the hot part wasn't even necessary now that I think about it…

So, bottom line is; I didn't get sick, but then again none of the other Gleeks did either, despite them not cleansing themselves as often as we did, but I prefer my nuts where they are, so I didn't point that out to a furiously obsessed Rachel.

The only one that got sick that I really cared a little bit about was Mr. Shue. Mostly 'cause that meant we'd have to get some lame ass substitute. And knowing my luck, it was bound to be some middle-aged bore that had no concept of anything resembling fun.

Being the caring person that I am, I decided to brighten up everyone's day and began buttering the floor in the choir room. I quickly grabbed Rachel as she entered and pulled her out of the danger zone, 'cause I didn't want her to risk falling down and breaking her neck.

A few minutes later, our substitute entered the room and I swear, I could hear every guy's (and Santana's too) jaw hit the floor with a resounding smack. She was nothing like I'd expected and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that if I hadn't been firmly encased in Rachel Land, then I'd have pursued that chick like there was no tomorrow.

I caught the glare Rachel sent my way and quickly redirected my eyes and tried to focus on the substitute's speaking voice.

0o0o0

When we got home a little later, Rachel muttered something about calling Quinn and disappeared into our bedroom without even greeting Caroline, so I knew she was feeling shitty.

I grabbed my daughter from the nanny and thanked her and then more or less told her to get the hell out so I could calm down my girlfriend, before following Rachel upstairs.

Just as I'd halfway expected, she wasn't on the phone when I reached the open door to our room. Instead, she was lying on the bed, face down in the multiple pillows that she'd sort of got me hooked on. She looked like the picture of silent despair and I swallowed a smile as I entered the room.

"Babe," I cooed softly, looking down at a smiling Caroline in my arms (Thank fuck she was in a good mood or this might never have worked in the first place), "didn't you forget someone today?"

Rachel muttered something into the fabric and I moved Caroline closer in a fast movement, causing the little gal to giggle in delight, which made Rachel turn her head and smile lovingly at our kid's happiness.

"That's more like it," I said and placed Caroline on the mattress and laid down next to her, cocooning her between us. "Now, you wanna tell me what the fuck's wrong with you?"

Rachel didn't meet my eye, staring at Caroline's who had a splendid time gnawing toothlessly at her own foot at that moment, "Nothing."

"That's bullshit."

"Noah! Our daughter is a lot more impressionable than you'd expect and I'd appreciate it immensely if you tried keeping your vocabulary – as badass as it may be – within the range of common decency. I will not have a toddler screaming about her guns and her above average ability to produce gas that could leave an entire house comatose for a week; thank you very much."

Grinning, I planted a soft kiss on Caroline's head and looked up at Rach again. "Okay, but you still haven't really answered the question, Babe."

Rachel huffed, a small rueful smile making its way onto her beautiful lips. "Fine, Noah. You win." Then she sighed heavily, taking Caroline in her arms and placing her on her chest, caressing her tiny back soothingly – although I didn't know who she was trying to soothe to be honest.

"I must admit that seeing Miss Holiday brought back some of my old insecurities. She seems to be so…well, so much and despite her rather unprecedented and unconventional teaching methods, she seems to catch everyone's attention in a manner that I've never seen before. I mean when I tried taking over, it was only Quinn and yours quick actions that stopped the rest of the glee club from annihilating me in a no doubt painful manner."

Oh yeah, I grimaced inwardly; I guess I've forgotten to fill you all in on the few minutes yesterday when Rachel had actually taken over glee club in Mr. Shue's abrupt absence. It didn't go very well, let's just leave it at that and thank the big man upstairs that I'd sat in the front row and managed to body shield Rach while Quinn literally saved the day when she tripped an attacking Santana.

Then Rachel continued and I started frowning, 'cause I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "And your wandering eyes really brought it home for me that I'm still not entirely over the pregnancy weight and let's face it, I'm by no means a long legged and beautiful and blonde as she is and-"

It was only Caroline's now slumbering presence on Rachel's chest that prevented me from gripping her shoulders and shaking her. Instead, I held up a hand to stop her from speaking and I rolled over onto my side to look at her seriously.

"I know this isn't something that I say all that often, 'cause we both know that between the two of us, you're the one that likes to give the speeches, but," here I drew in a quick breath, fighting off that part of me that still hated to express anything other than how fucking awesome I was before I added somberly, "but; that doesn't change the fact that to me, you're the most beautiful thing that ever walked the earth. I might look at other women from time to time, but I swear on my 'hawk that every time I do, I keep thinking that you're still the better option. I don't want a six foot something golden haired chick that can't even appreciate the buttered floor I set up earlier. I want you; every little crazy particle and more if that was even possible. Oh, and don't diss your legs Babe, 'cause they're kickass and I love them."

The look Rachel sent me gave me these odd butterflies in my stomach and I wanted to grin like a dork that had just won the science fair or something, but I tried reigning it in a bit, 'cause, you know…I'm the opposite of a dork. But…I did love it when she looked happy though and her smile proved that I'd succeeded in cheering her up a bit.

She scooted closer to me and placed her head on my arm and that's how Abraham found us an hour later to tell us that dinner was ready.

0o0o0

The school went through some changes in the next couple of days.

Coach Sylvester became Principal Sylvester when the nasty flu thingie got to Figgins as well and started up her campaign against fatties and stuff. I know that I'd probably have enjoyed the whole thing before I'd gotten together with Rach, hell; I doubt I could've seen the fun in it even after only joining the glee club.

I wasn't the only one that thought Sylvester's crusade was a bit too much; Hell, I'm just sayin' Mercedes walked around with an eternal cloud over her head and fire oozing out of her eyes, raging on about some crap about the cafeteria food or something.

I wasn't really listening 'cause I suddenly found myself with a whole new heap of problems.

Finn came to me, his earlier anger and annoyance at me seemingly vanquished at the moment, and started telling me that he sort of, maybe, kindda, almost, a little bit had a thing for Sunshine and if Quinn might have a problem with that?

Then to make matters even worse, Sam sought me out to ask for advice on how to get on Quinn's good side. He didn't seem to appreciate my comment ("Fuck if I know; just don't knock her up again") and tried Rachel. That meant that Quinn obviously found out and then Finn somehow heard about it when he and his Ma had gone to pick up Eve for their weekly sleepover, where Quinn had apparently been discussing the pro's and con's of another boyfriend with Rachel on the phone.

Of course, that meant Finn completely lost any and all interest in Sunshine and redoubled his efforts on getting back on Quinn's good side.

Now you're probably wondering how that could spell problems for me? Well, Sunshine turned all her broken hearted focus on me and Rachel and before I knew it, she was back to being Rach's little idolizing shadow, which meant less time to get laid in spontaneous places if you catch my drift.

To put it mildly, it fucking sucked.

Anyway, Miss Holiday seemed to do something that Mr. Shue never ever did. She noticed that Rach was unhappy and for that, she got a fucking gold star in my book. I mean, in the middle of all the drama with Coac-Principal Sylvester, she took the time to come up with a mash-up with Rachel and perform it for the rest of the Gleeks.

It was a very good performance; and I have to say that the red negligee costumes they were in didn't make things any harder to look at. And although Miss Holiday's legs were basically as long as Rachel's entire length, I still found myself staring at Rach and fidgeting in my seat to hide my hard on.

And judging from the looks from some of the other dudes around me, I wasn't the only one not noticing that Rachel's supposed pregnancy weight hadn't disappeared or what not. I sent the meanest glare in Finn's ogling direction, reminding him silently that Rachel was M.I.N.E.

I gotta admit that Miss Holiday turned out to be way better than I'd ever expected, but when Principal Sylvester started threatening to fire his ass, we all decided that enough was enough and told the broad firmly just how we saw Mr. Shue.

I had to fight off the urge to smack some tiny dweeb around once I exited her office, 'cause being so gushy about a teacher really wasn't something that I was very proud off.

A few days later, Mr. Shue returned and although he steered us back on the normal road where no contemporary songs were allowed 'cause Journey hadn't made them, it was kindda nice having him around again. And I didn't even sneer at him in warning when he completely ignored Rachel's suggestions with an eye roll as usual.

It was nice to have things back to the way they used to be.

0o0o0

School was going better than it had ever done and that's why it really wasn't supposed to surprise me one bit that my personal life was beginning to turn difficult yet again.

Sure, things between Rach and me were great and I had never had a better relationship with her dads, but when I got home the day where Mr. Shue had returned to class and found a letter for me in my mother's handwriting, I knew that she was gonna start pushing me like only a Jewish mother could.

Hopefully Abraham and Hiram wouldn't blow a gasket once they realized that she'd contacted me without going through the proper channels. I still hadn't told anyone but Rachel about her being one of the nurses on my case at the hospital.

"What you got there Son?" Abraham asked as I stood a little too long in the living room, staring at the unopened letter in my hands.

"Well," I decided to be honest and told him as I began ripping the envelope up, "it's a letter from Ma."

I heard Hiram hiss from the kitchen at my words, and Abraham turned off the TV, but once the words in front of me started to sink in, I didn't give a flying fuck what was going on.

"Noah?" Rachel's concerned voice reached me, as though it was far away. "What does it say?"

"She…" I broke off, feeling the blood drain from my face, "she wants to regain custody of me and Hannah. She says that she feels that now that she's sober she's got the right to be a mom again…and," here I damn near choked on the words, but I forced them out hoarsely, "she's warning me that she won't give up until we're a family again, that she's got someone on her side that has proof of the Berry family going between a mother and her child and if we don't comply then she'll take it to court."

I looked down at Rachel and we both said the same name with equal distaste. "Shelby."

I fucking knew that that bitch had been keeping quiet for so long for a reason…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER THIRTYFOUR

Thankfully the whole shitstorm with Ma and Shelby was resolved pretty fast and emotional turmoil aside it turned out to be a pretty simple thing. If anyone had ever told me a year ago that having a bastard child as a teenager was anything to rejoice about I'd have laughed like the asshole I was and more than likely have punched their lights out.

Don't give me wrong, Caroline was – aside from Rachel deciding to look past my idiotic behavior towards her over the years – the best thing that had ever happened to me…ever, but it's not a secret that being a teenage dad doesn't really say much about one's intelligence and what not.

But to get back to the point, once Hiram had calmed down the steaming hot pile of rage that Abraham had turned into, they both reassured Rach and I by reminding us that me being a parent would give me leeway in court and apparently it didn't hurt that I was seventeen and pretty much of legal age within months.

So, Abraham grabbed the phone and dialed my mother's number and basically told her to get her ass over to our doorstep so we could resolve this without court 'cause she didn't have a leg to stand on and…oh yeah, that she was a major bitch for even talking to Shelby about Rachel and me in the first place.

Well, he used a lot more words and flowery expressions, but that was more or less what he meant. I no longer questioned where Rachel got her longwinded tendencies from, in case you were wondering.

Barely a half an hour later, the doorbell rang and Hiram placed his surprisingly strong hands on Rachel and mine's shoulders before nodding to Abraham to go open the door.

When Abraham returned a few seconds later, Ma followed him, looking like she didn't know whether to be defiant and self-assured or scared out of her mind, 'cause she seemed to have noticed that Abraham Berry was one scary ass motherfucker when he was angry; and there wasn't a doubt in anyone present's mind that the dude was pissed.

"Hello," Ma's voice didn't waver and she kept staring at me like I was a bottle of water in the desert. "I'm glad to see you, Noah."

Rachel drew in a breath, seemingly ready to tear into Ma and continue where she'd started the night of Caroline's birth, but I stood up, shrugging Hiram's hand off of me and just stared right back at her for a long minute.

"What the fuck are you doing?" The words left my mouth quietly, with an eerie calm that I most definitely wasn't feeling on the inside.

Ma's eyes dimmed and she looked away briefly before meeting my accusing gaze again. "I just want my family back together."

"We haven't been a family in a very long time," I replied, crossing my arms, "I know Hannah misses you and all that bull, but anyone with eyes can see that she's happier now than she's been in ages. I really thought you were showing promise that day in the hospital; that you'd gained some brains after getting sober, but then you pull this crap!"

I shouted the last part, taking a step forward, unable to contain my repressed anger anymore. I felt betrayed and hurt and just plain scared. Despite Hiram and Abraham's comfort, I was suddenly scared shitless that Ma and Shelby would succeed in tearing me away from the only real family I'd ever had.

"N-Noah," Ma seemed shocked at my sudden outburst. "I love you. I love your sister and I deserve-"

"You don't deserve a darn thing," Rachel jumped up from her seat, her dark eyes blazing. "I can't believe I tried convincing Noah to allow you to visit to meet his child. Thank God I didn't succeed. And for your information, listening to anything Shelby has to say is the biggest mistake you've ever made – aside from laying your hands on your child! Don't think we won't fight you on this; like you I'll stop at nothing to keep my family together; but unlike you, I will win this battle."

Abraham looked almost proud as he watched his daughter lay into his old acquaintance, while Hiram looked sad. He never hid the fact that he hated all the badness going on between our two families.

"Ma," I interrupted Rachel as she prepared to metaphorically flay the skin off my mother's bones (or, at least I hoped it was only metaphorically). "I told you that I needed time. I'd probably have let you in, but…" I looked over at Rachel, her chest heaving as she tried to calm herself down a little, "…this is my family now. But I'll give you a piece of advice; stay away from Shelby…She's bad news and for whatever it's worth, I want you to do well and I want Hannah to have the chance to grow up with a loving mother like I never did. So, next time Shelby contacts you, tell her to leave you the fuck alone, 'cause she already cost you the chance to know your son and granddaughter; and if you're not careful, she'll wind up costing you your daughter too. Now get the fuck out."

Ma looked crestfallen at my speech and I hated the part of me that wanted to hug her close and immediately apologize, but then I rebuild my resolve and turned to wrap Rachel into my side as we watched my mother leave in silence.

The next day, Abraham texted me to inform me that he'd gotten an e-mail from Ma, telling him that she'd drop the charges and agree to let me get emancipated without any complaints.

I was so happy that I didn't even bother glaring threateningly at Jacob, who'd followed Rachel a bit too closely as she entered the cafeteria to meet up with me. That dude was everywhere lately…but, anyway I was in a good mood, so I just ignored him and focused on the way Rachel's kneesocks did things to me that I won't repeat.

0o0o0

Now that the Ma business was over with (Thank fuck for that) I was free to notice that Rach and I weren't the only ones having family things going on.

Evidently, Kurt's dad and Finn's mom were gonna get hitched and they wanted us to give them a kickass wedding with songs and dancing and stuff like that. It was kindda cool of Mr. Hummel to support us like that.

But then again, it wasn't exactly a secret that the guy supported whatever his son did with all his heart. I gotta admit that a small part of me was a bit jealous about that; especially after my own parental role model. But it was quickly squashed by the memory of Rachel's dads that had damn near flown through the roof at the thought of losing me.

Mr. Shue immediately began dividing us into groups to get us to think about what to do at the wedding and I cast a look at Rachel as she was dragged over to the corner by Kurt so fast that they almost left smoke in their wake. Evidently, despite everyone's exasperation with my woman, it was no secret that she usually had the best ideas when it came to this sort of thing.

Looking around, I saw that Sunshine had followed Rachel as was her norm and that Quinn was standing with Sam and Mike and Tina, seemingly deeply involved for some reason. Seeing Finn standing staring at his ex girlfriend with a look like a kicked puppy, I made my way over to him and tried cheering him up like the best friend I was.

"You look retarded, Dog. Stop staring at her and man the fuck up."

Finn blinked and looked down at me with a small glare and I flexed the guns, silently reminding him I could kick his ass if he tried pulling any macho crap on me. Then he sighed and looked over at Sunshine who was nodding enthusiastically to whatever it was that Rachel was saying. Kurt looked a little dubious all of the sudden and I swallowed a smile.

"Yeah, don't look there either," I warned, "trying to win back the ex while staring at the crush ain't the way to go, Bro."

"I know, Puck. I'm just so effing confused." Finn exclaimed, running a hand through his hair.

"Effing? Who the fuck says 'effing' when they're not in elementary school anymore?"

"Shut up, Puck." Finn practically growled, but then he started grinning and I returned the grin and sat down on one of the chairs next to us.

"Come on, let's talk about when you're gonna come over and let me kick your pasty ass in Maria Cart again while Rach and Kurt figure out what we're supposed to do at the wedding."

Finn smiled and sat down next to me, knowing like I did that it really came down to those two what was gonna happen anyway. "That'd be nice. Err…do you think Rachel could maybe help me with getting Quinn back?"

I just stared at him for a long moment. "I don't know Man. Frankly, I think you should just chill and give Quinn a chance to miss you. Yeah, I know she seems pretty chummy with the new guy, but you're her kid's dad and that's always gonna be in her heart." Fuck, I sounded more and more like a Dr. Phil loser wannabe. I needed to go ask Coach Beiste to give me some extra blocking practice to get my manly self back in order…

Finn cast a longing glance at Quinn's back before nodding with a new firm look in his eyes. "Okay, I tried it my way and it didn't work so I guess listening to you couldn't hurt. I mean, you and Rach seem so good together lately that you got to be doing something right, right?"

Grinning, I looked over at Rachel, who looked so smug that I knew she'd gotten her way, and answered my oldest friend. "No Man, the credit is all hers."

I caught the surprised look in Finn's eyes and mentally swore. That did it, I was so gonna kick someone's ass to restore my Man Cards. Maybe I should go look for Jacob in the next period…

0o0o0

"I'm not really feeling so great," Mike's voice was pathetic sounding at best and he looked slightly green while Tina fanned him with a lyrics sheet.

I grinned, looking over at him, while trying to get my stupid ass tie to cooperate with me. "Come on, Dude. You're gonna do good; we've rehearsed this so much I know you can do it in your sleep by now."

"But…" Mike practically wailed, "I just wanna dance."

"Oh Michael," Rachel exclaimed from behind me and turned me around abruptly, finishing tying my tie with unsurprisingly expert hands, "to quote my uncouth boyfriend, I have to ask you to "grow a pair," and get with the program. You're far better than you give yourself credit for. Besides, you're part of a couple and thus must suffer the consequences."

I spotted Finn almost gnashing his teeth at this; and considering the guy had been banned by Rachel from participating in the duet part of the song, I understood him. But she'd gotten this idea into her head, that surprisingly Mr. Shue thought was brilliant too, where only real couples were gonna sing solos in the beginning.

Finn had argued that it was his mom's wedding and his eyes had begun searching out Quinn for a duet partner, but Rachel had just given him a Look and he'd more or less backed away from her with his hands raised in submission.

So; here we were; standing in the tent for Finn and Kurt's parents wedding about to go out to sing our hearts out.

I would have been nervous and sweaty, probably sipping from the flask that I'd snuck in to Mike's hands earlier to calm his nerves down before he got a fucking ulcer, but one glance at Rachel had me vetoing that idea. If she caught me even looking at alcohol, I'm betting she'd make me regret it and well…I liked sex too much to risk it.

In the end the whole thing went really great. It was fun prancing down the aisle with Rachel and watching Beyonce's dad dance…well, let's just say it was worth the whole thing in laughter. The dude had moves that rivaled Finn's in suckiness and that's saying something.

I gotta admit though that as we stood there, all of us watching the obvious love Mr. Hummel and Mrs. Hudson soon to be Mrs. Hummel shared, I couldn't help but imagine briefly how I'd feel standing there with a white clad Rach by my side.

Then I realized that I was seventeen and thinking about marriage, and I shook it off. I was in love and had no intentions of letting Rachel go, but still…marriage was a big step and no one in my family had ever lasted once they tied the knot. Not even my Nana; she'd thrown out her husband of two months once he'd said he didn't want to have kids right away and he'd gotten a pneumonia from staying out in the rain, begging to be let back in and died shortly thereafter.

To her defense, she had been pregnant with Uncle Ira at the time…and I knew just how crazy pregnant chicks could be.

Shaking off my weird ass trip down memory lane, I woke up enough to realize that the whole thing was over and done with and we were on our way to the reception. It was like a usual wedding; speeches and food and then it turned weird but adorkable once Finn decided to show his appreciation for Kurt by dancing with the guy in public. I pitied Kurt's feet, but even though it must have hurt getting stepped on so much, Kurt didn't even wince. It was nice to see they'd grown so close.

Rachel and I decided to head home relatively early. We had brought Caroline, and she was getting fussy at all the noise and unfamiliar people. Quinn bowed out the same time as us with Eve and she looked a bit confused at Finn when he insisted on taking Eve and retire early instead so she could have fun with her date (who'd turned out to be Sam, and he looked tired at having spent an evening with Quinn the Mother instead of Quinn the Cheerleader that he usually saw in school).

I have to admit I was impressed by the maturity Finn showed and that's why I cut him some slack when I noticed him glaring hotly at Sam's back when the blond smilingly led Quinn back out to the dance floor.

I just nodded at him with silent support and led my two girls out to the car so we could head home and crash, 'cause fun times out-of-the-way and all; I was fucking exhausted.

0o0o0

The next day, I woke up ridiculously early when my cell rang and I damn near toppled off the bed in my groggy attempt at not waking Rachel up, 'cause I knew she'd been up with Caroline a few times already.

I whisper growled into the phone, "who the fuck's calling so early?"

"Why do I keep fucking up?" A slurred voice that I barely recognized asked.

"Who's this?" My growling slowly transforming into a furrowed brow instead.

"I'm messshhed up, P-Puckerman," the slurring voice replied and it continued hoarsely, "I's a stupid fuck up; you should have hit me more…"

"Dave?" I sat up, the smaller hairs in the back of my neck standing up. "Why are you calling me at," I glanced at the clock on my bedside table, "3.45 a.m.?"

"I'm sshhoorry," Dave murmured, adding another curse aimed at himself and I didn't really like the oddly hollow tone in his drunken voice.

I mean, sure, I've been around drunk people all my life; my mother more or less made me a fucking expert, and that's not even including all the parties I used to attend on a regular basis. But that almost haunted tone in Dave Karofsky's voice reeked of self-loathing and hate. Not a good combo in my experience.

"Dude…Tell me where you are and I'll come pick you up, Man." I tried.

"I'm not a good persssonn," Dave almost sounded sober and way too serious at that moment and I was out of the bed, halfway dressed before I even realized I was moving. I didn't know why I felt the urge to hurry, I just knew I did.

Rachel was awake now and watching me with wide, concerned eyes and I whispered that Dave was probably in trouble.

"I'd do the world a fucking favor by leaving," Dave's voice pierced through my growing fear and I looked at Rach with a silent plea, like she could do something I couldn't.

And then she did. She took the phone from me and firmly asked Dave where he was. At first it seemed like he was spewing the same bullshit he'd used with me judging from the frightened look in Rachel's eyes, but then she cut through whatever he was saying with an unbelievable soft, soothing voice that almost sounded like cooing.

"David; I really need to get you somewhere safe. Will you please tell me where you are and we'll come pick you up? …No, we won't tell your dad…I promise David…I'm not mad at you, just please tell me where you are."

Twenty minutes later, Rachel sat in the back of Abraham's car with Dave's extremely drunkass head in her lap while I drove back to the Berry house where I got him into the guest room and Rach went to tell her dads we had a new houseguest for a little while.

While she went into her dads' bedroom, I silently went through the motions in trying to sober Dave up. I gently coaxed him to drink a few glasses of water so he wouldn't wake up dehydrated and then I tucked him into bed like I'd done with Ma so many (too many) times.

I turned off the light and prepared to leave, sure that he was more or less unconscious after I'd helped him undress, but then his still slightly slurring voice reached me in the dark.

"Sorry for threatening Rachel…"

"I know," I replied without looking back at him.

"I don't deserve any support from you guys – especially after what I've done to…" Dave trailed off and I turned around a bit to look at the form I could vaguely make out in the moonlit room.

"No you don't, but you'll get it anyway. Now shut up and try to sleep before the hangover gets to you."

I left the room, hearing Dave's almost inaudible chuckle behind me as I closed the door quietly and went back to the room I shared with Rachel.

She was waiting for me and looking especially serious. "We need to help him," was the first thing she said after I'd climbed back under the covers.

"We won't get any understanding from the others," I felt forced to point out. I hated to put her into the middle of this whole mess, since her standing amongst the other Gleeks were already so up and down, but the determined glint in her eyes told me that she had no intentions of backing away from a person in need.

And like it or not, Dave Karofsky was a guy in need.

"I don't care, Noah. I'm sure we'll handle it. And how bad can it be? I mean, Kurt's got the support and love from so many people and probably won't mind that we…Oh who am I kidding," Rachel sighed heavily and snuggled down into my chest. "They're going to hate us; or to be more precise, they'll wind up hating me as they always do. But I don't care because the boy in that room needs someone to tell him that it's not a sin to be a homosexual and happy. And no matter what, I'll always have you, isn't that right, Noah?"

I grinned and kissed the top of her delicious smelling hair. "Hell yeah, Babe. I ain't leaving your side until we've convinced them that Dave –asshole though he is- ain't as evil as they all think."

Of course, Rachel and I probably wouldn't have been so sure of ourselves if we'd known that while we'd left the wedding early, Dave had actually scared Kurt so much that he ended up transferring to Dalton Academy the following Monday.

I've said it before and I'll say it again; sometimes I feel like I'm living in a fucking soap opera…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER THIRTYFIVE

"Well, as loathe as I am to do point this out, I have to say this is the perfect opportunity to say, 'I told you so'; wouldn't you say so, Noah?"

Rachel's soft-spoken voice reached my ears and I stared at the small hands she'd put onto my clenched ones without saying anything, 'cause there really wasn't anything else to say. She was right as usual.

Our fellow glee clubbers hadn't reacted favorably when they finally – after the weekend – realized that Dave Karofsky not only stayed at our house, but got a ride with us to school. They'd cluttered together in small groups of two and three and sent glaring looks wherever we went.

Well…I say we, but I actually mean Rachel, 'cause like she'd predicted she was suddenly the villain in all of this fucked up mess we had going on. It sucked.

Fortunately for…you know my continued education and public record, none of the Gleeks had confronted us in public, waiting for the somewhat more private choir room. Dave had followed us throughout the day, going through his own little slice of hell when Azimio and the other jackasses I used to call friends caught on to the whole fact that Dave was spending time with the losers of McKinley High without an ulterior motive (he still hadn't told anyone but me about enjoying the male anatomy as much as I did the female one.)

But he'd been sensible enough to not come with us to glee, instead he'd waved goodbye and said he'd go back home to himself and that we'd see him later. Apparently, he was fully intending to continue being around us. I really wasn't sure whether or not I was overly thrilled about that part…

Anyway, as soon as Rachel and I walked through the doors to the Choir room, the pandemonium started. Santana was growling in Spanish, pointing to the others in random and declaring that she was the only one cool enough to be allowed to bully the losers of McKinley; Brittany looked confused while Artie stroked her hand soothingly, Mike shook his head mutely, but didn't say anything awful, like Tina and Mercedes who both were sitting next to Sam, who in turn was frowning, but seemed to realize that I might take a little lip from my friends, but not from a newbie like him. Sunshine looked like she was about to burst into tears as the perfect image she had of Rachel seemed to be breaking a little.

Finn was the worst though; his look of betrayal and scorn was just too much to handle and I turned around to drag Rach out of the place. But then, the tiny brunette chose to once again prove to me that her balls were bigger than all of ours put together, 'cause she ducked under my arm and took a firm hold of my hand, pulling me over to some empty seats and sat down and daintily crossed her ankles, looking attentively at our teacher, pretending to ignore that everyone but Quinn moved a seat away from us.

Mr. Shue was oblivious as always; he stood around watching the others treat Rach and to some extent me like shit, but acted blind and deaf until he deemed we'd spent enough time on nothing. It was a fucking crappy teaching style if you ask me.

Finally, he seemed to realize he was supposed to teach and started doing just that after muttering something about Kurt's transfer to Dalton, which was how Rach and I first heard of it.

Rachel stiffened next to me, but didn't react in an obvious kind of way; I snuck a glance back at the others who all but Quinn was sending Rachel death glares.

When I met Quinn's eyes, she looked sad, but not angry like the others; evidently, she knew we'd have a damn good reason for doing what we'd done. I couldn't help but growl a bit internally at the thought of so many people that had known Rachel for so much longer than the former head bitch in charge didn't give her the benefit of the doubt like Quinn did.

When Glee ended, I thought we'd covered the worst of it, but then Mercedes said something about betrayal was easy for someone that would do anything to get ahead and Finn muttered something in agreement as he waited for Quinn. And I had enough; seriously, I was fuming like a steam train or whatever.

"You have no fucking idea what you're talking about," I managed to get through my gritted teeth in a somewhat civil tone. "Just get over yourselves."

"Oh Hell to the no, White Boy," Mercedes had heard my comment and did a one eighty over by the doors and walked over to us with fire in her eyes. "You did not just act all high and mighty when my boy is hurting like crazy because of that whack job Karofsky!"

"Look," It was Rachel's hands over my clenched ones that kept me from jumping to my feet in anger, "I get it sucks ass that Beyonce moved; shit I hate it too and believe me, Dave is getting some heat over that later, but stop acting like it's such a fucking big deal."

"And we get that you're trying to show you're on your woman's side and all," Mercedes sneered, with Tina nodding in agreement behind her, "but don't bother; we all know it's Rachel's fault. She just can't keep her big nose out of other people's lives."

"Get the fuck out of here," I literally had to bite the inside of my cheek to force myself to remember that one didn't hit girls (not decent guys anyways), "Stop blaming Rach for all of the shit that goes wrong or that you don't like in this fucking place. We both agreed to let Dave stay at our house, for reasons that ain't any of your business. But I'm telling you all this right now," I saw Finn take a step back at the glacial tone in my voice; he suddenly seemed to remember that pissing me off too much wasn't the best idea in the world, "get out of my sight or I swear to God, I'm gonna do shit to all of you that you're gonna regret."

Two minutes later, the would-be lynch mob had vacated the Choir Room with varying expressions of anger and relief. A distinctive cough over from the piano caught my attention and I looked over at Mr. Shue when he decided to turn up the authority he supposedly wielded up a notch. "Look, Puck; I don't want you talking to your classmates like that. It can –"

"No offence, Mr. Shue," I said, not blinking as I kept staring daggers at him; "but go fuck yourself."

The curly haired teacher looked pissed at my words, but then he took a deeper look at me and seemed to notice that I was way too close to losing it, 'cause he just nodded strictly at us and gestured for the ever mute Brad to follow him out.

0o0o0

After that, things turned into what seemed to me to be a fucking vendetta against Rachel over the next few days.

I mean, for some lame ass reason, Shuester decided to give away Rachel's leads to Quinn and Sam and Santana of all people. Sure, they could all sing, but come on; as I fiercely pointed out to a scowling Shuester, Rachel was the best and she deserved to bring it home at Sectionals like she did last year.

I honestly don't know who was more pissed off about our teacher's sudden burst of team sport fixation or what the fuck ever, Rach or me. We just sat in silence and probably looked like fucking angels of rage or something anytime anyone dared look at us with anything resembling smugness.

Quinn found us after that particular class and told Rachel with sincerity in her eyes that she hadn't gone behind our backs and asked for any solos. I believed her, and since Rach didn't jump her and tried choking her to death, I'm guessing she did too.

But the way everyone had been treating her those last few days were finally getting to her it seemed, 'cause she actually let Quinn pull her aside for some girl time instead of practicing for Sectionals. I guess losing your solos sort of took away the desire to practice twenty four seven…

I was left with this bubbling feeling of resentment and frustration and without really realizing what I was doing; I body slammed Jacob into the lockers. In my defense, the pervy little dude was once again following behind Rachel with a camera and a way too intense look in his beety little eyes, but still, it was a shitty thing to do, the tiny Rachel voice inside my mind reminded me.

I didn't get a chance to apologize, before Jacob had jumped to his feet, muttering something about payback and had scuttled back down the hallway out of my sight. Shrugging it off and reminding myself to do some apologizing later, I spotted Dave standing by his locker next to a sour looking Azimio and since I was in a pretty shitty mood, I decided to walk over and invite some kind of trouble to release some tension.

"Yo, Dave," I greeted, nodding casually at him, as I leaned up against the lockers, staring coldly at Azimio, who in turn didn't seem to know if he was supposed to return the favor or look guilty about the whole perforated appendix thing.

In the end, he settled for a mixture of both, making him look like a half retarded monkey with breathing problems. "What are you doing here, Puckerman? I'm talking to Karofsky, not you."

"Well, I'm talking to Dave and not you, so fuck off."

"You son of a bitch!"

"Yeah, that's true, what's your point?" I smirked at the baffled look he sent Dave at my words, but it was just too good to pass up you know.

"Look, Man," Dave's voice forced me back from the onslaught of memories of my shitty parent and I looked over at him with raised brows, "I'm kindda trying to talk some sense into Azimio here, making him see that you're not…you know, a total douche."

"Oh," I replied with a nod and turned to leave. "Good luck with that."

When I got home later that day, I was just exhausted. I'd gotten a text from Rach informing me that she'd hitch a ride with Quinn and that she'd meet me at home, so I wasn't surprised at the breastfeeding party going on in the living room as I entered.

"Hello Noah," Rachel smiled and tilted her head back a bit so I could plant a quick kiss on her lips, as Quinn discreetly covered her boob and Eve's little head in the meantime. "Where's David?"

"He's coming in a few; had some extra training with Coach Beiste as part of his punishment. Want help with dinner?"

"Nah," Rachel nodded in the direction of the kitchen where I just realized that Hiram was busy stirring a few deliciously smelling pots on the stove. "It's been taken care off. But I'd appreciate if you'd burp your daughter, while I go freshen up in the bathroom upstairs."

I took the precious bundle that was my kid and smiled when she giggled toothlessly at the sight of me, milk bubbles trailing down her chubby little cheeks. Damn, she was just so fucking adorable. The older she got the more of Rachel I saw in her – although she kept insisting that Caroline had my eyes.

I did my fatherly thing with Caroline and settled down on the couch where Quinn was busy getting the burping over and done with as well. We looked at each other for a long second, before she sighed out heavily.

"I think Rachel is hurting a lot more than she'll let you see. She's afraid you'll end up beating Mr. Shue to a pulp to defend her honor…or something like that. But if it makes you feel any better, I've spoken with Finn and he won't bother you anymore."

I raised a brow in question, knowing full well that the conversation would've involved some major shouting for it to have gotten through Finn's stubborn head. Quinn smiled evilly and in that moment I was reminded of the girl that used to torment Rachel for funsies. I repressed a shudder, so I didn't wake up Caroline…or…well, show that the very thought freaked me the hell out.

A few seconds later, the doorbell rang and Dave walked in. He stopped short at the sight of Quinn and I remembered that the last time the guy had actually been around Quinn had been when he'd been about to slushy her while she was pregnant. "Hey Quinn."

"Hello." Yup, there was the Ice Queen persona again; I found myself praying that Rach would return soon and the Man upstairs seemed to be listening, 'cause in the blink of an eye, there she was with a smile of welcome to Dave as she made her way over to me to take Caroline from my arms.

"Don't worry about it Babe," I rumbled softly, caressing Caroline on her back to keep her sleeping as I got to my feet and started for her nursery. "I'll take care of it and be back in a few."

I put Caroline down to sleep and just stood staring down at her, as she lay sprawled out with all four limbs in every direction. I let my finger trail across the soft, dark hairs that she'd inherited from both of her parents with a no doubt totally wimpy smile of adoration, but I didn't care. Like I said, she was just so fucking beautiful.

"You're really good at that," Rachel said just as her arms encircled my waist in a tender hug that somehow renewed my energy from all the bullshit we'd been through during the week.

"Wanna make out?" I asked with the ghost of a smile on my lips, twisting around to place my head on the top of her vanilla scented hair, "I'll kick everyone out, don't you worry."

"As sweet as that offer is," I couldn't see it, but I knew Rachel was smiling into my shirt, "I will have to decline. I simply came in to tell you that I'm so very proud of the way you handled yourself today. This week has undoubtedly been a negative one, especially with this last development that Mr. Shue calls a plan for Sectionals; but," Rachel turned her head upwards to meet my eyes head on, "you didn't lose your temper and endanger your future. It's really nice to see how much you've matured this last year, Noah."

"Only 'cause of you," I whispered softly, feeling lost in those dark, beautiful eyes that were staring up at me with so much pride and love that I could feel my heart swell like I was the lead actor in a romantic comedy.

"Awwww."

I looked over at the door, where a twin chorus had interrupted my moment with my girlfriend and I glowered in mock anger when I saw Dave and Quinn side by side, smirking at us with laughter in their eyes.

"Fuck off."

We all blinked and then we blinked again, 'cause contrary to popular belief, I hadn't been the one to say those words. No, the small female in my arms had and I blurted out with a grin marring my features.

"Damn Babe that was by far the hottest thing I've ever experienced. Now we're definitely going upstairs to make out."

We all choked down our laughs so we didn't wake up the sleeping baby behind us and left, feeling happier than in a long while, at least in my case and judging from the light shining in Rachel's eyes, she felt the exact same way.

TBC...

Chapter Text

CHAPTER THIRTYSIX

"Son, you really need to stop now." Abraham's voice was low and sad. His eyes kept staring at me with this look in his eyes that he'd worn only once before; that time he'd witnessed me fall to pieces over my loser father so many years ago.

I honestly didn't care; fuck, I wouldn't have given a shit even if he'd looked pissed off at me, 'cause right at that moment, all I cared about; no, all I fucking lived for was behind a locked door somehow still sobbing her heart out loud enough to pierce my heart with painful stab after painful stab.

"Not yet," I stated and placed my forehead against the wood of my bedroom door and once again began begging Rachel to open the door – no way in hell, was I gonna break in the door and add more misery on my shoulders.

Confused? Well, it all started a few days ago just before Sectionals.

Okay, to be fair, I guess it started last year when I'd made that fucking idiotic idea to submit to Santana to make her keep her mouth shut. What I hadn't known; what neither of us knew was, that we'd been caught on camera and evidently, Jacob had been waiting for the perfect moment to ruin my life.

Rachel and I had been through a period of relative peace as a couple, our friends having been the ones to live the messed up lives for a change, so stupidly, I thought it would always stay that way. But that morning, we went to the school to get into the bus for Sectionals, I noticed something weird the moment I pulled into the parking lot.

"Is it just me or are people staring more than usual at us today?" I asked, casting a glance over at Rachel, who was sitting and scrolling through her phone's pictures to see the new ones she'd taken of Caroline just that morning in preparation for our separation during Sectionals.

"Hmm? No, don't be silly Noah," she murmured, only looking up briefly before returning her loving gaze at the picture she'd snapped while I was holding a clearly laughing Caroline up in the air, grinning like a fool myself. "And if they're staring, I'm absolutely sure that it's due to my continued refusal to throw away our new friendship with David."

"Yeah, I guess so." I answered and frowned in confusion when I spotted Santana looking wide-eyed at me with clear apprehension in her face; something I don't think I've ever witnessed before. Then she whipped out her cell phone as I was watching and mere moments later, my own cell beeped and I took a look at what she'd written.

'Don't come over here. Go Home! Trouble!'

I didn't get a chance to really comprehend what the hell that meant, before the door to my truck was ripped open and someone grabbed a firm hold of my flannel shirt and threw me on the ground and started kicking me in the stomach.

Instincts that came from years of abuse and the time that I'd orchestrated my own underground fight club, took over and I jumped up and twisted around to deliver a kick straight into my attacker's face.

I pounced now that my opponent was down and sat on his torso and was just about to pummel my fist into his face with all that I had in me, when I finally realized just who I was about to massacre.

"Finn? What the hell Dude?" I growled, feeling confusion taking the place of my earlier anger. "What are you on?"

"Fuck you," Finn spat out some blood from the split lip my kick had earned him. "You're such a filthy hypocrite! I've been listening to you play Yoda for me and then you're such a fucking asshole yourself! I can't believe you!"

"I have no fucking clue what you're talking about, Hudson!" I hissed as I got back to my feet, rubbing my sore stomach, happy that I was completely healed from my appendix thing or else I'd have been in a lot of trouble with Rachel.

As the thought of Rachel passed through my mind, I looked around to see why she hadn't jumped in to stop us and reprimand us for fighting –especially right before an important competition, but when my eyes eventually found her, standing with Mercedes, Artie, Quinn and a truly scary looking Sunshine. She wasn't even looking in my direction. Her head was bowed and I saw that she was staring without blinking at something on her cell.

I suddenly had a bad feeling and started making my way over to her, only to be hindered by Mike and Sam, who stepped in front of me with solemn expressions.

"You better realize that I'm not in a great mood right about now," I warned, staring Mike straight in the eyes, acting like Sam wasn't even there.

Mike crossed his arms and I could see the silent warning in his dark eyes, which reminded me that this was a guy whose fighting techniques were a bit more…well, kickass than my own. "It's better if you stay right here for the time being, Puck. Trust me."

I looked over his shoulder and froze when I locked eyes with Rachel. Except, this wasn't the Rachel that I'd just shared a great morning with, snapping pictures of our daughter to keep us sane until we'd return the next evening. This was a Rachel that suddenly seemed like she'd lost everything and I didn't like it.

Her eyes were wide and her face was deathly pale, with big red blotches on her cheeks. Her lower lip was trembling and I knew the signs that signaled that she really wanted to cry, but was doing everything she could not to.

But honestly, all of that didn't bother me as much as the expression in her eyes. She looked like I'd killed her parents and told her we'd serve them to Caroline or something. Like I'd betrayed her entire worldview.

Santana's sneering in Spanish at Quinn, who was standing with her back to Rachel and saying something harsh to the Latina, suddenly brought the pieces together as clear as day. The frantic warning by text, the disappointed looks from the others and the rage that Finn (and Sunshine too) had shown.

Somehow Rachel knew about what had happened with Santana. But, I thought with growing desperation, it didn't mean anything and nothing really happened; it was just a kiss…

Even as I thought it, I knew it was a bullshit excuse; I'd felt guilty even back then when my lips had first crashed down on Santana's.

"Fuck!" I cursed and ran a hand through my 'hawk, filled with agitation and fear. "How?" I looked back over at Mike and he answered my question by handing me his cell phone and I had an eerie sense of déjà vu; remembering the last time a fucking video had ruined my life.

"Nononono," I heard someone mutter desperately and it was only once the video started showing me a scene of myself fucking devouring Santana up against the wall that I realized that it was me, I was almost keening like a wounded animal as the minutes went by.

I quickly understood that the video had been heavily edited; it ended just as I shoved my hand down Santana's skirt and she groaned my name into my ear. Having been present when it actually happened, I knew that Santana's moaning was her first attempt at pushing me away; that it had ended only seconds later with her and me talking things through in a much more grown up kind of way.

But in the video, it faded to black like we were just about to take things to the next level and whoever filming was sneaking out of the room to leave us a tiny shred of privacy. There were sounds of me and Santana fucking in the background, something I knew was from the party that she'd held the year before I started going out with Rachel, but it sounded like we'd banged each other in that room and from the date stamp on the video it seemed like I'd been screwing Santana on the side during Rach's pregnancy. Fuck!

I all but threw the phone back into Mike's waiting hand and sidestepped him and Sam, who'd lost a bit of his focus during my video watching so he didn't notice until it was too late. I knew that it was only the friendship me and Mike shared that stopped him from jumping on my back and battling me to the ground like Finn had.

"Babe," I could hear the pleading for understanding in my voice, but I didn't give a shit that I was losing face, since I was in the middle of perhaps losing my fucking life! "Please let me explain."

"Word of advice," Sunshine, tiny little Sunshine sneered up at me, "Don't come closer because I'm very dangerous despite my size."

I knew that it wouldn't help my case if I pushed a girl away, let alone one as small as the foreign exchange student, so I stopped advancing. Instead, I tried catching Rachel's eyes, but she was still staring down at the cell phone in her now shaking hand.

"It didn't happen like it's portrayed – I mean, I fucked up by kissing her, but I swear that's all that happened and I was proving a point, I wasn't gonna sleep with her, I promise! Please; the rest of it wasn't from that time."

"What? So you've fooled around with that bitch ever since? That's disgusting!" Sunshine roared, letting her impressive voice pipes come to their right.

Santana's protest went unnoticed in the background, as I kept ignoring Sunshine and the others, who were glaring at both me and Santana. My only focus was the trembling brunette, now almost hidden in-between Quinn, Sunshine and Mercedes.

I honestly have no idea how long I stood there, pleading both with my voice and my eyes for some kind of understanding, but it was Mr. Shue that put a stop to things and ordered us into the bus, completely ignoring the fact that his best performer was clearly heartbroken.

I've never wanted to kick that son of a bitch's ass more. Pushing away from the grip I only then realized that Sam had on my shoulder, I walked over to our curly haired teacher and pointed back at Rachel.

"Can't you see she's not ready to leave? That something is seriously wrong?"

"Look, Puck," Mr. Shue acted like I was just a silly kid and stared at me with bemused eyes, "I know that you and Rachel are obviously in the middle of some couple related drama, but it's not the end of the world. Besides, it's not professional to keep dragging everyone into your love life. Save it for after Sectionals and I'm sure by then it'll be over and done with."

He left before I had a chance to point out that he really wasn't allowed to say those kinds of things, 'cause really, the dude was the worst at separating his personal and professional life. I mean, Miss Pillsbury, anyone?

Anyway, I didn't really take his words in all that much, still too preoccupied with trying to figure out how to a) get Rach to listen to and if possible forgive me and b) find a certain fellow Jew with a bad fro and kill his sorry ass. I was gonna make him long for the time I'd been smacking him around, that's all I'm sayin'.

And that's gonna get Rach to see you're a decent guy? A rarely heard logical part of me pointed out sarcastically, and I sighed, running a hand through my 'hawk in exasperation.

I stepped over to the bus as one of the last ones, right behind Santana, 'cause apparently, she too was being held out in the cold as long as possible. She glanced behind her shoulder at me, her face showing guilt and embarrassment in equal measure. Even if I didn't already know who was responsible for this fucked up mess, it was clear that she had had nothing to do with this shit seeing the light of day.

She'd probably have messed with the other Gleeks, especially Rachel, hoping to bring everyone down for kicks, but I knew deep in my heart that Santana would never do those kinds of things to me. We were too alike.

"I swear I didn't know he was there," she murmured without looking at me, as though not looking at me would make people calm down a bit, "when this thing is over and hopefully in the bag, I'm gonna hunt his ass down and make him eat that fucking camera."

"Not if I get him first," I replied as she got in the bus.

Once inside the tight space, I spotted Rachel in the back, with Quinn and Sunshine close by and I sat down dejectedly in the seat behind Artie. The guy looked at me with so much disappointment and annoyance that I knew he wasn't about to listen to me either. And also, he kept glaring at Mike for some reason that didn't really register in my head at the time. Too bad he wasn't willing to lend me an ear, 'cause I knew he was brilliant enough to help me plan my revenge on Jacob.

Once we finally reached the hotel where we'd performed exactly one year earlier, I thought sadly that I was apparently doomed to feel shitty every time I went to one of these fucking competitions. Mr. Shue led us to our rooms and I dared hope briefly that our rooming hadn't been tampered with.

It had taken Rachel two consecutive weeks of begging, arguing and plain old nagging to get Mr. Shue to agree to let her room with me, 'cause as she'd stated (many more times than one), "Noah and I board together on a daily basis and we are very responsible. My parents deemed it would be fairly hypocritical to make us sleep away from each other, since trying to keep us innocent is already a tad late, seeing as we have a child together. And to be honest, I doubt anyone here, besides Quinn and perhaps Sunshine, would want to room with me for the night since I'm fairly demanding and to be completely honest, I'd feel more secure in having Noah around me once my maternal instincts start screaming at me to return to Caroline...Of course, I could always come to my fellow glee clubbers and you Mr. Shue for help, but I'd feel better knowing that the father of my child was with me to comfort me in a no doubt dreary time."

I smiled as the memory of the panic stricken expression on the other Gleeks and Mr. Shue's faces as Rachel had subtly threatened to burden them with her hormonal feelings of yearning. Once she'd gone that route, everyone stopped talking about it being unfair to the others that we roomed together or, in Mr. Shue's case that our behavior would set a bad example, and started sending me looks varying degrees of sympathy and pity.

A moment later, the smile vanished, when Quinn stepped over to me, sending me angry looks that I didn't even bother say anything about, 'cause she was protecting Rachel and anyone who was nice to my girl could pretty much do anything to me right now.

"Rachel is sleeping in my room tonight. And I'm telling you right now that I need to sleep so I can sing just a little bit nicely tomorrow, because I seriously doubt that Rachel or Santana will be able to sing their best."

I snorted halfheartedly, scanning the hotel floor for Rachel's dark hair so I could try to intercept her before she went up to her room. "If you think that, you're obviously not as good a friend of Rachel's as you think you are."

I turned to leave, but Quinn's voice stopped me dead. "She said she couldn't handle seeing you right now, Puck. Give her a little space, she just found out her boyfriend cheated on her."

"I didn't!" I shouted, no doubt looking like an idiot as I spun around to defend myself, "That dweeb Israel did something to make it seem worse than it really was!"

"Okay," Quinn looked a little bit self-righteous as she continued and I wanted to slap her or at least just leave, especially 'cause she was right. "So the kiss wasn't really a kiss? You were giving Santana CPR of some kind? The hand in her panties was just to check for a pulse or what? Tell me something reasonable so I can go find Rachel and explain for you."

I swallowed a lump, knowing she wasn't asking for anything unreasonable, but also aware of the fact that I couldn't give her what she asked. The truth was, that I'd fucked up royally and even if it had all worked out back then, it had now come back to bite me in the ass and I feared for my future.

"I thought so," I heard Quinn mutter as she left me and I walked up to my room to keep out of everyone's way.

The only thing I did until Mr. Shue came to tell me that it was time to leave, was send Rachel a text that simply said, 'I love you.'

It didn't surprise me when she didn't respond.

0o0o0

As we sat in the Green Room, there was this heavy mood that weighed down on all of us. Tina and Artie were sitting together, muttering quietly to one another and sending glares and hurt looks at their respective partners; Brittany looked torn between being guilty over something to do with Artie and upset when she looked over at me or Santana.

Finn was still glowering at me, too busy to really appreciate that his lip was being tended to by Quinn, who tried covering the gash with makeup or something. Sunshine was sitting next to Santana on the couch, whispering what sounded like native voodoo chants in Santana's direction and Mercedes was sitting next to Rachel over in the other end of the room, supposedly "guarding" her, but knowing that girl as I did, I had a suspicion that she was just keeping the best front row seat for any possible action. I mean, it's no secret that the girl loved her gossip…

In the end, I couldn't take it anymore and stood up. At once, everyone turned their full attention on me and I quickly told them all to fuck off and roughly shoved past Sam, who'd been hovering near Quinn as she helped Finn.

I slowly fell into a jog and then a flat out run out of the hotel, pushing past guests and audiences that I couldn't care less about right at that point in time. Finally, I burst through one of the side doors and ended up out in a stinking alley full of containers of trash and other crap. I even spotted one bundle in the far away corner that I'm pretty sure was a human being sleeping.

I banged the door closed behind me and in my frustration I slammed my hands into the brick wall several times until, at last, I ran out of steam and slid down the grimy wall next to the door and put my head into my bruised and bloody hands, screaming out my emotions in the only non lethal way I knew.

I lost track of time, too absorbed in my own misery and that's why I jumped like a scared kid when none other than Rachel's voice sounded next to me.

"You really need to get over your urge to react psychically whenever your emotional turmoil boils over inside of you Pu-"

"Don't Rach, please don't!" I interrupted, staggering to my feet and taking a firm, but gentle hold of her shoulders. "I know I screwed up, and I'm gonna do whatever it takes to fix this mess, but for fuck's sake, don't start calling me Puck."

Her deadened gaze, not holding any emotion at all met mine briefly. "It's just a name, Noah. Now, if you're through with your masculine tantrum, we're about to start and we can't go on until we're all there."

"Babe," I begged softly, sounding truly desperate, "I'm truly sorry…" I trailed off at the flash of true agony that I caught in Rachel's eyes before she blinked and looked as dead as before.

"I can't do this right now, honestly, I find it hard to look at you, so please let's just get through this stupid competition and go home."

I really couldn't argue with that and nodded mutely as I released her. She looked at my hands for a long moment, but didn't comment before turning around and leading the way to the stage.

0o0o0

In the end, we all put our combined drama on hold long enough to perform well enough for us to tie with Kurt's Gayish Choir, The Warblers.

Before the whole mess had begun, Rach and I had agreed to go out to celebrate, never doubting a second that we'd place for Regionals, but I wound up spending my night alone, "celebrating" my life with a bottle of vodka, I'd gone out to buy after the competition.

Finn showed up at one point, and actually started apologizing for his violent behavior before spotting my drunken state and ended up calling me pathetic. I just stared at him and told him he should join me, 'cause we both had piss poor love lives at the moment.

He looked thoughtful for a second and then nodded after having looked around the hallway to check that no one saw him entering the room of "The Enemy".

Next morning, Finn and I were hung-over, but friends again, 'cause we'd ended up spilling our guts to each other during the night. Him about his feelings of longing and desperation that Quinn didn't leave him for Sam and his regrets about how he'd acted with Eve. And well on my end, I kept bawling like a loser that I'd never get a chance to fix things with my soul mate…

Yeah, I truly was as pathetic as Finn had said, I know.

Anyway, when we got back to McKinley's parking lot, Rachel had Quinn drive her home and I went over to my truck and tried driving home without wincing every time my injured hands had to be used for anything other than sitting on the steering wheel.

I came home, just as Quinn drove away, looking eager, no doubt anxious to see Eve, and I didn't really know if I would be welcome. I mean, sure, I knew I had earned a place in the Berry men's hearts, but once they learned about what had transpired in our absence, I'm pretty sure I'd have to run from Abraham and Hiram as they came after me with their shotgun.

Sighing, I grabbed my duffle bag and prepared to enter my home. When I walked inside, I was met with Abraham's knowing look, while Hiram kept dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief as he muttered about something I was happy I couldn't hear.

"How'd you find out so fast?" I asked Abraham, secretly relieved that he hadn't made a run for his gun as soon as I walked in.

Abraham just shrugged, "Jacob's mother came by yesterday to apologize on her son's behalf. Evidently, he'd neglected to clear out the evidence in his room – he's confessed to me that he manipulated the video to some degree, but I'd really like to know why you kissed another girl so passionately while my daughter was carrying your child?"

I sighed again and quickly explained and by the end, Abraham looked conflicted. Hiram had walked by me with a scoff, so it was obvious he'd returned to the 'Noah Puckerman can't be trusted'- fold and I tried telling myself that I didn't really care; that I'd never really gotten on with the white Mr. Berry, but it was a downright lie and everyone knew it.

To my surprise, Abraham actually sent a scolding look at his husband before turning to me with a serious look in his eyes. "I – we – won't interfere with your relationship with Rachel, Noah, but I will admit that you could've handled everything a lot better and that I sincerely hope that you intend to grovel at her feet."

"Yes Sir," I nodded, 'cause, really, it was my plan until Rachel deemed me worthy of forgiveness. "Did she take Caroline already?" My heart longed to see my daughter, but I knew that I'd respect it if Rach had taken her to our room to comfort herself.

Both men nodded and I returned the gesture. "I'm just gonna go try and talk to her. I'm not hungry." I added and scratched my not shaved chin only to see Abraham's eyes widen in horror at the sight of my hands.

"What happened?" Hiram immediately forgot his anger and went into doctor mode, ready to check me over.

A few minutes later, they'd unsuccessfully tried getting me to go to the emergency room to get an x-ray of my hands, but I refused and begged of any more of their worry to go begin my silent vigil at Rachel's door, which turned out to be locked just as I'd suspected.

0o0o0

And now, two days later, I'd barely left my place at the door, only leaving when Rachel silently handed me Caroline in the door so I could spend some time with her, only to return her hours later and continue our new routine of me waiting for Rachel to either forgive me or just give me a chance to explain. I'd long given up on asking her out loud through the closed door, 'cause it didn't work.

Apparently, my last refusal to get myself together was one too many for Abraham Berry to handle, 'cause he just bent down and pulled me to my feet and dragged me out to the nearest bathroom, shoving my no doubt stinky ass into the shower stall and turned on the water.

He didn't even leave to let me undress in private, probably not sure if I'd bail through the bathroom window or not. It was a battle with my now swollen hands to get everything off in the midst of the pouring water, but in the end I managed and he threw me a towel as I turned off the water ten minutes later.

"Dry off, get dressed and then you're going to sit down and eat the first real meal you've had all weekend before I'm taking you to the ER to get those hands looked at. Then we'll get back and get Rachel to sit down and talk with you face to face like a mature human being; do I make myself clear?"

I nodded timidly, honestly a little scared for my life, 'cause the dude's eyes were practically burning through me with determination.

On the inside though, I was also extremely grateful 'cause now I was sure that Rachel wouldn't be able to avoid me anymore… I mean, I was sure that I wasn't the only one that immediately obeyed once Abraham got like this.

"What are you waiting for, Son? Get moving!" Abraham bellowed from the doorway, once he noticed that I hadn't really begun getting dressed yet.

I smiled a small smile, the first since that morning before pulling into McKinley's parking lot and nodded brusquely. "Yes, Sir, I'll be right there."

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER THIRTYSEVEN

Well, the forced sit down between Rachel and me didn't go as Abraham thought it would. For starters, it turned into something a lot more emotional for the both of us than even he'd planned. Like a lot…

I mean, she sat down with red rimmed eyes and a tightened mouth that revealed her struggle to keep her feelings on the inside for now and my guilt and shame bottled over and I immediately started spewing the same apologizing crap I'd done for the last few days in front of her door.

But then, Rachel did something that was undeniably stupid; she opened her mouth and told me to be quiet, because now she wanted to speak and somehow that talk turned into some crappy comments and the kiss of death to my apologizing as it were came when Rachel ended her guilt tripping spiel with saying that if I was still so immature and childish, perhaps I wasn't suited as a full time father, and that really, it shouldn't' have been so surprising to her 'cause immature parenting clearly ran in my genes.

She regretted it instantly; I knew that; hell, I could see it even as the last word left her lips that she was freaking out already at what she'd said, but for once, I didn't give a damn.

It was like she'd reached out and ripped me to pieces without even touching me; taking me apart with the one real weak spot that I had. I was unable to really get my mind into gear, I knew that she didn't mean what she'd said but I couldn't stop from shaking in growing rage.

She quickly opened her mouth to no doubt do some heartfelt apologizing of her own, but I interrupted her roughly, barely keeping my voice level. It was like I was speaking through a stone in my throat that was choking me inch by inch.

"So…basically you're saying I'm shitty father to Caroline?" Her eyes teared up even as they widened to an impossible size, "well, I can't really say anything other than Fuck you, Rachel Berry."

I stood up, ignored the startled look that Abraham sent me even as his entire essence sent out waves of disappointment at Rachel, and walked over to the small area of the living room that had been converted into a sort of play area for Caroline and kissed her soft hair even as she lay giggling on a small blanket with some sort of toy in her slobbering mouth. Fuck, this was gonna be hard.

The next thing I did was quietly walking up to the bedroom to grab a duffle bag that I normally used for gym stuff and threw in a few random pieces of clothing before turning back around and walking right back down and over to the front door.

Rachel still sat immobile where I'd left her, but the sight of me walking without pause towards the door seemed to catapult her back into business 'cause she jumped up and ran over to slam her body against the door that I'd just reached out to open.

"Where are you going, Noah?" she asked, her eyes bright with those damned tears.

For once though, I wasn't totally effected by them and just shrugged, feeling blissfully numb for the first time since that jack ass Jacob had put everything into motion. "Gonna crash somewhere else for a little while," I finally revealed. "Don't want my bad genes or influence or what the fuck ever taking over this place, right? Now step aside 'cause I will remove you."

"Noah, Please; I'm just so emotional after these last few days and-"

"Don't," I shrugged again, "I've done my share of apologizing for kissing Santana, but you know deep down it wasn't the sex or making out that the video seemed to show that happened that day; for fuck's sake, I've told you time and time again through the door what happened. And apologized for it, and right now I just don't give a crap. Go be a bitch to someone else for a while."

"Hey," Abraham's slightly reproving voice reached me and I threw him a look over my shoulder before simply taking a firm hold of Rachel's shoulders and then I pushed her gently to the side and walked out of the one place where I'd truly felt happy for the first time in my fucked up life.

"You promised we'd never sleep apart," Rachel shouted after me, the tears in her voice now plainly obvious, but I didn't look at her, knowing that it would've been my undoing and I'd meant what I'd said, I was tired of saying sorry all the time. Instead I just chuckled darkly and replied as I got into my truck as fast as I fucking could in my current state of mind.

"Well, you broke that promise the moment you refused to let me in to our room three nights ago, so get off your high horse and go cry at Quinn's shoulder, I've no doubt there's some way the two of you can make me the bad again in this fucking soap story that's our lives."

I started the truck, and I was grateful that the roaring of my old engine drowned out whatever it was that Rachel was shouting at me, 'cause it was bad enough watching the tears streaming down her face as I drove away. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Abraham in the doorway; his face wearing such a devastated expression that I once again was stabbed in the heart knowing that this place was my home and I was leaving it, at least for a little while.

As I drove away from my family, I kept blinking away the burning in my eyes to stop my own tears from pouring; I mean, despite everything I wasn't exactly keen on driving around town with tears streaming down my face. I still had my reputation; fuck, it was about the last thing I had these days.

0o0o0

I ended up skipping school the two next days, not really giving a fuck about anything. Instead, I just spent the days in the old, creaky and no doubt alive bed in the old rundown motel on the outskirts of town that I'd checked into two nights before.

There were bottles lying all around me that I'd bought from one of my old friends, who'd supplied me with alcohol many times before I'd sort of fallen off the grid to go play happy family with Rachel.

But, even though there was plenty of liquor all over the place, I had yet to actually open even one bottle. Something was stopping me; and for once it wasn't the Rachel themed voice in my head that usually came forth whenever I was doing something stupid; no, it was my own rarely heard conscience.

I knew that if I took this road I'd be well on my way to be an exact copy of my parents; their solution for anything had always been drinking whatever they could and I gotta admit a big part of me was scared shitless that I'd go down the same path in life.

Images of Caroline had burst through me the moment I'd tried unscrewing the lid to one of the vodka bottles and I'd thrown the sucker away before I'd even made a conscious decision to do so. The drying liquid on the wall gave the small room a no doubt boozy smell, but I didn't care – too emotionally spent to do much of anything and besides, it drowned out the old socks and sex smell from decades of illicit use...

So instead, I spent the days just lying in that nasty ass excuse of a bed, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about what the hell had happened. I'd overreacted majorly at Rachel's comments, I knew that already, but seriously, I also had this bubbling anger inside of me that was caused by the extreme reaction she'd had herself in regards to all the Santana shit. I mean, fuck, when had I given her any reason not to trust me? I'd never hidden any part of my past, she'd known that something had gone down between me and San that day, and had made a choice not to push; fuck, I'd even been fully prepared to tell her everything.

And then she'd said those things and really, that had been one thing too many and I really had no fucking clue how to fix things again. I wanted nothing more than to go back a week and just stay in that blissful bubble we'd had going on.

But I was too old to believe in fairy tales or make believe crap, so I just kept on staring up at the slightly molding ceiling. At least, until my stomach growled so much that I eventually had to get off my ass and try to locate something to eat.

I put on my sports jacket, which was the only semblance of a coat I'd brought with me. Okay, in hindsight it was a big mistake, 'cause it was just below seven degrees of Fucking Freezing outside. But then again, it was almost Christmas so it's not like I should've been surprised.

Anyway, I fought off the cold as well as I could and made my way over to the vending machine I remembered having spotted earlier as I entered the parking lot. My fingers were fucking freezing as I tried putting in the money as fast as I could; I was so focused on my task that I nearly pissed myself when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Puckerman? I thought you were sick?"

Turning around fast, I dropped my snacks but I tried playing it off casually as I stared into Sam's surprised eyes. "What the fuck are you doing here?" I blurted out, bending down to pick up my stash.

It was only a brief glimpse, before he blinked, but I could've sworn the dude looked embarrassed. Well, I guess he was meeting someone or had met someone; but I put it out of my mind, 'cause I was too fucked up myself to give a shit about who was banging who right now.

"Uhm, well…"Sam muttered, but then he changed direction on me, "Rachel said you were home sick, so what are you doing here?"

"It's contagious." Yeah, I lied, 'cause really; I wasn't interested in everyone knowing my business and it was no secret that no one gossiped more than the New Directions members. I mean, Mercedes is a part of that group, you know.

"Really? You look fine," Sam said, bringing me back to the present with a start, "I mean, you look tired as hell, but I'd figure that was a normal thing when you have a baby at home. At least, Quinn always look tired these days and-"

"Yeah, whatever," I broke in, not even able to bare any mention of my baby girl at home, 'cause I missed her like crazy, "I just wanna be left alone, Newbie, so buzz off."

He looked a little bit hurt at my harsh tone, but seriously, the dude was…well, a dude and sue me for not having the energy to mind my fucking manners.

"Look, erm…I could be wrong, Puckerman, but..." Sam trailed off cautiously when I glared at him, but then he showed another hint of that same courage that had made him mouth off at me when he'd given his glee audition and continued quickly, "Well, you look like you could use a friend. And I'm willing to be that friend so stop acting like an ass and tell me what the hell is going on. Please."

I smirked a little when he added that last word, 'cause that was so him; he was just such an all round nice guy, it was ridiculous. In the end though, I kindda sighed and invited him over to my room and Sam agreed, after he'd sent his parents a text or something and went with me.

The moment he entered my room, his face screwed up in distaste at the smell, and even I had to cringe a bit after being out in the cold, fresh air, 'cause damn, it stunk in here. We ended up spending the night talking; he was surprisingly good at listening to the things I didn't say and advised me to try and get over myself long enough to work things out with Rachel. He even sort of made me understand her comments, hurtful though they'd been, and in the end I agreed to go back to school the next day to try and get a reconciliation going. I knew it'd be hard, 'cause I was still pretty pissed about it all and knew that even though Rachel probably still regretted her own words, she was more than likely pretty upset too.

Anyway, after that had been sort of settled, we did the only thing left; something that had been brewing between us for ages. We had a totally awesome talk about which was cooler; Avatar or Mario Cart. I gotta say; it was nice acting my age for once and when Sam left a few hours later, teeth chattering after sitting in my room with the window open to get the vodka stench out, I knew I'd gotten a great new friend.

0o0o0

The next morning, I showered and debated whether to shave off the stubbles I'd gotten during my little seclusion before finally just doing it, 'cause I knew Caroline would probably scream her little head off trying to pull the small hairs off to look at them. She'd gotten her intense curiosity from her mother after all.

Then I grabbed my duffle bag and headed out to my truck. I noticed that the room Sam had headed towards when we'd split ways last night was still in use, but judging from the two kids running around just outside shouting something towards the door it hadn't been that sort of meeting he'd been there for…unless he was like…into little kids and if so, I'd kill his bleached blond ass.

Shaking off the whole thing, I started the truck and drove towards McKinley High, both nervous and apprehensive about what was about to go down. A part of me didn't really want to go, if I had to be totally honest. Mostly, I still wanted to transport myself back in time about a week so none of this stupid thing had happened in the first place.

Eventually though, I reached the school and pulled in just in time to see Mr. Shue and Coach Sylvester scream at each other in the parking lot. Something about stolen presents or some shit like that. Anyway, I didn't really pay them any attention, 'cause a) I'm Jewish and even if Christmas is a kickass idea, I could live without and b) 'cause I'd just spotted Jacob Ben Israel's back over by the entrance with some other students and all my attention focused on him.

Feeling a bit grateful about the snow that helped me approach him soundlessly, I made my way over to him and this time I was gonna make damn sure I'd traumatize him for life…or at least make the guy swear not to pick up a camera again until after high school.

"Hi Jake," I greeted, practically growling as my hand landed on his parka clad shoulder, squeezing for all its worth.

Jacob's entire frame froze for a long minute, his other dweeb friends scattering around for a place to hide before he slowly turned his head to look at me. He mustn't have liked my expression, 'cause in the next second, he let out this weird whimper and moaning sound and passed out.

I quickly scanned the area and then I threw Rachel' stalker over my shoulder, loudly proclaiming that I was gonna take him to the nurse. Oh yeah, I barely contained an evil smirk, I was gonna take him to the nurse, but first I'd have a little fun with him…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER THIRTYEIGHT

The thing with Jacob taken care of, gave me a lift in spirits that I hadn't even realized that I needed. I mean, sure I was tense like a motherfucker and full of these feelings, but still, I thought I'd gotten a pretty good hang of myself, until I took care of the Jacob situation and went back to the school to try and fix my relationship with Rachel.

Of course, I hadn't really taken into account that people had seen me drag Jacob off the school's premises and within minutes of entering the school, I was intercepted by Miss Pillsbury and had to sit through some awful lecture that was both completely unrelated and slightly baffling.

I mean, what do green apples got to do with anything? Just sayin'.

I had just begun compiling a mental list, trying to see what the hell Mr. Shue saw in that bag of crazy. My own crazy girl was way more…well, endearing, I guess. Miss Pillsbury was just plain weird. Hot, but I didn't really want her around all the time. Well, anyway, that's not important; so, like I said, I'd just begun that list when there was a quick knock on the door and in walked Rachel of all people.

She looked like shit; okay, no, that's not true 'cause I'm pretty sure she could've worn an empty potato sack and still look hot as hell, but she looked exhausted. There were dark bags under her eyes and there was this air around her that told me that she hadn't slept any better than I had since our separation.

Her eyes met mine briefly and I could easily see the regret and longing that I knew my own face was probably showing like a lovesick puppy and there was a hint of genuine surprise, I guess she hadn't expected my presence. In the next second, she blinked and turned to look at McKinley's supposedly competent guidance counselor.

"I was told to report here Miss Pillsbury," she stated, closing the door behind her, evidently trying to secure some sort of privacy from the curious glances we were getting. It didn't do shit, 'cause the small room we were in had glass windows for walls, so while Rachel took the seat next to me that Miss Pillsbury gestured to, I got up and pulled the blinds on the stares. I threw in a few flipped birds too, just to make my point.

Once I'd sat back down again, Miss Pillsbury watched us in silence. It was fucking awkward is what it was, and I fidgeted a little bit as the tension grew ever so little. Rachel sat ramrod straight next to me and I just wished that Miss Pillsbury would piss off, so I could talk to my…well, I think she was still my girlfriend.

Finally, I snapped and turned to glare at the surprised teacher, "Mind getting a move on, 'cause I've kindda got plans to talk to Rachel before our kid go into puberty."

Miss Pillsbury nodded frantically, unconsciously fixing some nonexistent mess on her immaculate desk before speaking. "I've heard from several sources that you two are going through a rough patch lately, and I'd like to offer my services. I mean, you both seem to care a great deal about one another and love is important. You wouldn't want to be with the wrong one – no matter how lovely they were and how well his abilities to keep his oral hygiene in tip top shape or-"

"Yeah, great," I rudely cut in, already feeling my previously high spirit dwindle with every word. "I need to talk to Rachel so thanks for your talk, it really…"

I was gonna say something purely snide and not too nice, but a quick look at Rachel made me rethink my words and I just shrugged and got to my feet.

Then to my surprise, Rachel looked over at our counselor and asked her, no told her, in the most convoluted way I'd ever heard to get out while we talked in private. If it hadn't been so serious a moment, I think I would've made damn sure Miss Pillsbury's desk didn't stay so immaculate if you catch my drift…

Five minutes later, we were actually alone and Rachel even had the audacity to lock the door after our befuddled teacher before looking back at me. "You don't look like your absence from me has done you any real good," she began softly, eying me up and down carefully.

I shrugged again and looked away; somehow not totally able to look her in the eye. "Well, it was needed."

Rachel sighed, but then to my surprise she nodded in agreement. Deciding I'd better speak my mind before it was too late, I continued:" I don't want us to stay apart any longer, Rachel…I still think leaving was the best idea, but I miss you all. I miss Caroline so much it fuck-freaking hurts." Better tone down the expletives while trying to mend things with your manner obsessed woman, Puckerman, I told myself with an inwardly sigh.

"I know," Rachel said, bringing me back to the present with a snap. She looked slightly relieved; I have no idea what she thought I was gonna say, but she genuinely looked like she had feared I was gonna kill her or something. Her next words surprised me right back and I forced back some instinct to act out or something.

"I have given it some thought, and I have to agree that our time apart was a logical development, given the way everything just escalated emotionally up until the time you left."

"Do you wanna fix this?" I heard myself ask, fucking terrified of the answer, "fix us, I mean? Or…" Hell, I couldn't even say it. Luckily, it seemed like Rachel got what I was asking, 'cause her beautiful brown eyes widened and she held up her hands.

"I have no intention of ending my relationship with you, Noah. Despite our recent setbacks, you're still the one I love…I don't suppose you want to break-"

"No," I interjected, a tad harshly, but I really wanted her to get what I wanted. "I want to talk things through and move past this crap. All of it. I'll even be willing to listen to what it is that makes you think that I'm not a good father; I promise I won't freak out."

"You know I didn't mean those awful things I said about you. You're the most gentle and caring parent I've ever met," Rachel stepped closer, obviously just as eager to mend some fences as I was. "I really hope my reckless angry comments haven't restarted your beliefs of your inferiority, because you're truly an amazing person, and I'm sorry."

I didn't need her apology, 'cause I'd known that it had been said in anger as soon as the words left her mouth and I was about to say that to her, that my own hurt had been worked through with Sam of all people, who'd helped me see reason, but then Rachel continued her talking and my mood pummeled to the ground like a airplane crashing to the ground.

"I hope that a little more time apart with ample time to rebuild each other's trust will prove to be the best thing for us."

I was dumbfounded and Rachel quickly explained in more detail that she didn't mean for me to keep out of the Berrys' home any more, that I should come back after school and return to normal…except, she fully expected me to sleep in the guest room so we could, and I quote here, 'build up our foundation as a couple like we hadn't done during her pregnancy.'

Basically it meant that Rachel thought I should court her like a proper gentleman – or a wuss, as I like to call them, so we'd grow back to that solid unit we'd been before. It was lame, overdramatic and completely something I should've expected out of Rachel.

"So," I said after she eventually finished her long ass speech that reeked of having been rehearsed quite a few times in front of her mirror. "You pretty much want to still be with me and keep me as your boyfriend and all…but basically you want me to date you a few times a week and spend time apart so we can miss each other so we know that we belong together?"

Rachel nodded in agreement, clearly believing she'd just had a brilliant idea. I didn't have to heart to tell her it was fucking stupid. I knew that she would just get stubborn and insist on it and if I ever wanted to get back to the way things had been before Jacob had screwed me over, I had to just accept this shit and live through it.

"And," I added, hating this part the most if I had to be completely honest, "no sex whatsoever?"

"Yes, I truly believe this to be the best course of action, Noah. Our resentment has to dissolve entirely before we engage in that kind of activity."

"But you love being fucked." I pointed out, not exactly caring that I sounded crude. I was genuinely baffled by this part, 'cause seriously; Rachel Berry was a wildcat in the sack…and out of it too, if you know what I mean.

Rachel rolled her eyes, and scoffed, but I caught the flush in her cheeks and couldn't contain a smirk. "Yes, thank you, Noah. I do enjoy the experience, but think about how much more gratifying our relations will be when we've overcome this hurdle and are truly at one again."

"I'm only doing this under protest," I said after a long moment of silence, where I had a quick mental talk with my dick, preparing him for a lot of time in the showers in the near future.

"Noted," Rachel smiled and then walked over to me and pecked me on the cheek. "I know this will be hard for you – excuse the pun – but I really think this will be a good thing for us."

"Yeah, whatever," I muttered, grabbing my book bag from the floor next to my chair and opened the door for her, like the gentleman she apparently wanted. "Let's get to class."

0o0o0

Christmas came and went and I followed Rachel's directions to the letter. I really wanna say that I hated every second of it; but that'd be a big lie.

It was actually nice to spend so much time with her that our busy schedules hadn't really permitted before. Before our reconciliation, we'd spent almost every minute together when possible, but we hadn't really sat down and just enjoyed each other in a while and that was a lot more regular now and I kindda loved it.

Yeah, sure, I was probably on my way to carpal tunnel syndrome from all my alone time (wink wink), but it was worth it.

Things with the Glee Club were going better now too. They'd slowly begun to accept that neither of us was a) breaking up anytime soon, b) allowing them to change our minds about Dave and c) willing to let them dictate our lives and that was great.

Hell, we even participated with them when they went caroling in school, joined in to save Brittany's unexplainable belief in Santa and we actually celebrated Christmas at Mr. Shue's once we all realized how lonely and pathetic he really was this time of year…and we're Jewish, remember?

Anyway, time went by fast and before I knew it, we were sitting in the choir room one day and Artie wheeled in, covered in red slushy and if I had been alone I probably would have laughed at the shocked puppy dog look he was sporting, but as it was, I wasn't so I just put on a frown and glared while he told us all about being cornered by the football players.

That was enough to make my frown real, 'cause I hated that those jackasses still went after glee members, even those they were on the same team with. It sucked balls and if I wasn't on such shaky grounds with Rachel I would've gone to the locker rooms to remind them to try that shit on me.

I met Sam's eyes and I could see he was thinking along the same lines so I nodded seriously at him, but was brought back to the present when Rachel placed her hand on my arm and whispered angrily, "They're such hooligans, Noah. We have to figure out a way to make them stop. Do you think David took part in this brutish attack? If he did, I am going to give him a stern talking to. "

She had a point; I realized and whipped out my cell phone to text Dave. U slushied Artie?

I only had to wait a few seconds before I got a reply, No! Tried 2 stop Az, but 2 late. Sry.

"He didn't have anything to do with it," I mumbled distractedly to Rachel, while I texted back that we were still cool and watching the other Gleeks fawn over the clearly upset Artie.

Mr. Shue looked on with a grimace and I really should've known that the idiot had something up his sleeve, 'cause the next day, I was sitting next to Sam, chatting about how exactly to make our football team pay for what they'd put Wheels through, when suddenly, all of those jackasses strolled in like they fucking owned the place.

Turns out that our glorious (note the sarcasm by the way!) teacher and Coach Beiste had cooked up some kind of plan of getting us all to get along or some shit like that.

I just knew it wasn't gonna work. It was impossible to get along with them; I knew that from experience too. And as if that wasn't enough, it became pretty clear about five minutes after their arrival, when one of the jocks made a crack about us all being faggots and that we probably caught it from Kurt before he left, and everything broke into chaos.

I mean, it was only Sam's and the now clearly scowling Dave's quick reaction that stopped me from jumping the moron; on my left, I saw Finn struggle with Rachel, who wasn't stopped in the least by being held up in the air around her waist; opting to use her legs instead to kick out at the jocks while shouting words that really would've gotten me pretty hot and heavy if I hadn't been so pissed at that moment in time.

Yeah, it was gonna be a disaster, no doubt about that…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER THIRTYNINE

"Aw fudge, I'm beat," I moaned, holding in my usual vocabulary with a stellar effort since Rachel had just handed me a giggling Caroline as I walked through the door. I was trying to be a good dad, and setting examples and all that crap…

"Well, she did keep you rather long today," Rachel said, careful not to infuse her words with her usual venom that she always did when talking about Coach Beiste's hours when it came to my football practice. Yeah, so obviously we were still totally walking on eggshells around each other, but I'd take that any day if I had to choose between that and being single.

"Yep," I said, making silly faces to keep Caroline's attention. These days it was not as easy as it used to be; my baby girl was getting more and more interested in the world around her and she'd started crawling recently, which of course damn near gave my 'hawk grey hairs of worry.

I mean, have you seen how fast a baby can move when she's up for exploring? And do you even realize what kind of nasty – not to mention fucking dangerous – stuff they manage to put in their mouths when you're not looking? Seriously, it's scary as hell.

"She's still on this spiel of getting us all to get along, and she's hell bent on getting us to overcome the Gleeks versus Jocks thing. I think Dave managed to beat some sense into Azimio tonight, so that's something, I guess." I explained while putting Caroline down in the area we'd made for her in the living room. At least this was a hurdle she'd yet managed to find an escape from, so I turned my full attention on Rachel, who hadn't said a thing to my news.

"What?" I asked, frowning at the serious look in her eyes as she folded some laundry by the sofa.

"Nothing," she replied softly, "I just have doubts about Azimio being willing to change. He's a scoundrel after all; I still haven't heard him express any genuine remorse over his actions towards you - Something which might very well have ended up costing you your life, Noah."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I murmured, walking into the kitchen to see if I could whip up a little snack or something before Hiram came home to fix us some dinner. Score, I salivated at the sight of a half of dozen sandwiches with ham and cheese hidden in the back of the refrigerator.

I damn near inhaled the first two sandwiches, before turning back to Rachel to continue my talk with her about Coach Beiste's idea. "It ain't likely that Azimio will ever be anything other than a total douche, but I mean, we thought that about Dave too once, right?"

Rachel sighed and began pulling out her homework with a slightly worried expression on her face. I continued, suddenly losing my appetite slightly. "I mean, I'm sure things will get better eventually. Besides, I heard Coach B and Shue talk about some plan earlier today, so no matter what, it ain't gonna be a total disaster, right?"

Rachel sent me a small smile and turned her attention back to her homework and I chewed on my fourth sandwich feeling a little better myself.

0o0o0

Of course, that all went straight out the window the moment we found out that due to our inability to get along with each other, the whole team was basically benched until further notice.

It sucked major balls; I mean, there's definitely not gonna be a championship game if we can't even play, right? Sure, somehow we all cooked up this awesome halftime show, but after a few times of practice where I tried not to laugh my ass off ( I mean, you'd have had the same problem if you'd seen Azimio shake his groove thing…), my former friends suddenly decided to abandon us in fear of looking like morons.

And this is the same guys that danced like a single lady in public last year…cowards. I conveniently ignored the part of me that pointed out that I'd been one of the guys who'd tried to stop that whole mess the most back when I hadn't discovered just how awesome glee is…or you know, Rachel to be more specific.

So, to get back to the big issue before I start salivating at the memories of the times when Rachel had let me under her short skirts – something I was severely missing these days, courting aside and all – we were all royally fucked.

Until, one day in the middle of glee practice, Rachel stood up all primly and looking very proud of herself and announced that she and the rest of the girls on the team would be joining us.

"Well," Rachel laughed and glanced over at a abashed looking Sunshine, "not Sunshine unfortunately; it would seem none of the uniforms will fit her so instead I've enlisted a wonderfully spirited Lauren Zizes, who's promised to, and I quote her invigorating, albeit rather uncouth statement here, 'kick some bony asses and show them all just how a real woman plays the game.'"

As though she'd been waiting in the wings for her introduction, and knowing Rach as I did, I was pretty sure that was the case, Lauren strolled in exuding confidence and badassery. There was a reason I'd never messed with that broad when I'd been going through my asshole phase. I mean, she could probably snap me in half if she wanted to.

Anyway, as the girls clapped enthusiastically at her appearance, I shared a few concerned looks with the other guys. And when Rachel exclaimed something about scoring a goal herself, all my protective instincts flooded back into me. And in case you've forgotten since the whole pregnancy thing, that part of me is pretty damn big.

Before I'd even made a conscious effort to fight it off, I'd stood up and glared down at Rachel. "Are you fucking insane? There's gonna be big ass dudes ramming into you to get that ball and I'm not talking ramming as in the good way, you know!"

"Noah," Rachel's cheeks flushed at my no doubt vulgar vocabulary, but she placed her hands on her hips and met my glare head on. "You're being absolutely ridiculous in this matter! This is the best solution for everyone. And I do seem to recall your loud responses to Coach Beiste's actions last night. This will work!"

"No it won't!" I practically screamed, envisioning her small body lying still on the grass with blood running out of her nose. "It's too dangerous and I'm not gonna let you do it!"

As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew I'd just about crushed the last of the eggshells we'd been treading on for the last few weeks. But I didn't give a shit about that in that moment. If this meant us getting a setback as a couple, I'd take it with a fucking smile as long as Rachel was out of harm's way.

Besides, I was getting pretty used to having permanently blue balls these days…

The other girls gasps of outrage brought me back to the present and Rachel's narrowed eyes were shooting fire at me.

"You will not let me?"

Abort, abort, my rarely heard rational side shouted within me, but I forced it down and held my ground. Sure, I took a small step backwards, but that was just so I could jump behind Artie in case of emergency. I've got a backbone, but I ain't stupid.

I opened my mouth to respond with something about her being too reckless with her health, especially now when she was a mother and things sort of escalated from there.

0o0o0

Well, ultimately, Rachel got her way and we were back to being mad as hell at each other. Admittedly I did say some stupid stuff, but Rachel wasn't in the least bit afraid to retort and we'd more or less been screaming at each other while the rest of the glee club, Dave, Mr. Shue and Coach Beiste had tried interfering to get us back down to earth.

Even Santana had backed off pretty quickly with her hands raised when Rach and I turned to her in tandem and told her to fuck off.

Anyway, the time for the game came fast and Rachel and I led Hiram and Abraham, who was juggling a squirming Caroline and a bag of stuff for her in case she got bored, to the stands, totally pretending that the other didn't exist.

Ten minutes later, I damn near dislocated my jaw as it dropped to the ground at the sight of her strutting forward in a football uniform. It was hot as hell, let me tell you. Even under all the pads and protective gear, my girl looked smoking. I was happy for the cup in my pants, 'cause I couldn't have hid my hard on even if I wanted to.

I think my thoughts of ripping off the whole thing and taking her right there on the field must have transported itself over to Rachel, 'cause she looked into my eyes for a short moment with a look I recognized as lust as she quickly identified my own feelings.

Then the game started and I had to focus on something else. I think I must have transformed my passion into aggressiveness, 'cause I seemed to slam into my opponents a hell of a lot harder than I usually did. I mean, a few of them looked pretty dazed as they stumbled back onto their feet while I barely broke a fucking sweat.

I was so engrossed in slamming into everyone and protecting Rachel and the other girls that I barely registered the grumbles from them as a few of them muttered something about wanting to actively join the game.

So, when Quinn of all people, suddenly growled something about being a too damn good athlete to just lie on the ground like a coward, I wasn't really prepared to stop her when she jumped to her feet with the football firmly encased in her arms after being passed the ball by an equally disgruntled looking Tina.

For one split second, I was pissed, but then I noticed how fast she actually was and a small grin of hidden approval broke out on my face. But then things changed and I watched with rapid growing horror as some of the other team's players gained on her and mercilessly threw themselves on her much smaller body.

I was already running, being the one closest to her, but it only took a few seconds, before I spotted Finn's form all but blurring past me with Quinn's name on his lips. He was so fast that he was in the middle of the mass of bodies before they'd even untangled themselves completely from the ground and was digging into the pile and pushing people away with a ferocious looking snarl on his lips.

If Quinn had been seriously hurt, I wasn't in the least bit doubting that Finn would make the guilty party pay dearly.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Quinn's form was revealed and I felt a breath hitch in my throat as we all realized at the same time that she wasn't moving. I felt Rachel's cold hand slip into mine and I wrapped my arm around her, all earlier animosity forgotten in the light of this possible disaster.

"Come on, Baby," Finn's voice reminded me of those horrible moments where I'd almost lost Rachel and I swallowed and held her tighter. "Think of our little girl, you gotta wake up and make me be a better dad…come on, Quinn."

There was the sound of footsteps as the medics finally moved their asses and caught up to Quinn; a few of the guys that had damn near buried Quinn stood idly by with clear hesitation and fear in their faces and Finn was too wrapped up in getting some sort of response from the unconscious girl in his arms to notice.

Then, after what felt like a fucking eternity, I heard Quinn hoarsely whisper if she did good. Not Finn's name or say anything about where it hurt, but if she succeeded with her play! Women, I'll never get them, I swear…

0o0o0

In the end, we won the fucking championship game; we fucking won! It was awesome.

After Quinn had been helped off the field with nothing but a headache and a slightly sprained ankle, Finn played better than I've ever seen before and my earlier aggression turned itself up a notch and the vibe got even better after we had a kickass half-time show where I somehow managed to convince the rest of the football team to join back in – even Santana and Brittany showed up to participate, telling a bizarre story of quitting the Cheerios to save Brittany's life or something.

After the game, we were all very happy with one another and any of that half-hidden animosity between us all had vanished as though it had never been present at all. Hell, even Dave got a big hug from Mercedes of all people.

Rachel took charge of things as always and we all ended up back at our house, having a small victory party. And when I say everybody, I mean everybody. As in the whole football team; even Azimio tagged along – even though Hiram and Abraham sent him a few scolding looks (apparently, the ability to hold a grudge in the Berry house wasn't something Rachel monopolized).

I caught a few of my old friends' looks as they entered the Berry residence and their curiosity reminded me of the first time I'd visited Rachel and half believed that her house was a perfect example of all things crazy.

Eve and Caroline were being passed around and from the looks of things it wouldn't be long before my kid started showing off the lungs she'd inherited from her mom, so I took Caroline out of my old friend, Matt's arms and told him to go bother someone else's kid and went to put her to bed, but not before tracking down Eve and handing her off to Finn, who was sitting vigil next to Quinn on the couch.

"Here Man," I said, "she's about five minutes away from breaking out the pipes, so I'd suggest you take her home or put her in the extra crib in the guest room that Hiram put out earlier for her."

Finn nodded his thanks and looked down at a now slightly moody looking Eve with a look of pure adoration and I caught Quinn's gaze as she was staring at Finn with a thoughtful look in her eyes. I think he was slowly making some progress at long last.

A few moments later, I'd changed Caroline's diaper and put her down to sleep and turned to rejoin the party. Except when I turned around, Rachel was standing in the doorway with an unreadable look on her face.

"What?" I asked, feeling a wee bit apprehensive to be honest. I mean, sure, we'd connected momentarily in our shared worry over Quinn, but after that things had happened so fast so I wasn't really sure whether or not she was still pissed.

I'd been right about the danger after all, but I know I'd fucked up in the way I'd said things in the choir room, but…ah hell, she still hadn't said anything.

"What?" I asked again, crossing my arms a little defensively.

Rachel sighed and leaned up against the doorway in a manner that I usually did and said my name softly. And then I broke out into a beaming grin at her next words.

"Wanna make out?"

"Oh Babe," I exclaimed, reaching her in a few long strides across the room, "you have no fucking idea!"

I grabbed her head and slanted my lips over hers with all of my pent up passion and frustration and she gave as good as she got and before long we'd taken things to our own room, throwing off discarded clothes on the floor behind us in our hurry.

Rachel jumped up at me and put her fantastic legs around my waist as I walked over to our bed and all but threw her on the damn thing, tearing off my wife beater with desperation. I was so fucking eager to just fuck her again that I didn't even take off my jeans; instead, I just whipped out my dick and pushed Rach's panties aside before sheathing myself in her tight heat with an almost whimpering moan of relief.

Neither of us lasted long, it had been a while since we'd last had sex after all, but we shared big dopey grins and then we were overtaken by the same kind of desperation once more and started all over again, only taking a little more time to pleasure and get reacquainted with each other this time.

We were so caught up in it all that we didn't even notice that we'd left the bedroom door wide open and that someone (probably Hiram, judging from the blush he had on his face the next few times he looked at me) quickly closed the door, after having thrown in our abandoned clothes.

When we woke up the next morning, Rachel turned to me, groaned a bit as she stretched her naked body and stated as calmly as though we were discussing the weather, "the next time I get the brilliant idea to become celibate, please just fuck me and remind me why it's a bad idea, Noah."

What could I possibly say to that? I grinned and wrapped my arms around her again, "You got it, Babe." And then we fell right back asleep, trying to recharge our energy after a very active night…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FORTY

"You two are so disgustingly cute that I might just slit my throat."

I reluctantly released one hand from its comfortable position on Rachel's waist and gave Santana the finger – not stopping the major make out session I was very occupied with in the middle of the choir room.

In our defense, we'd been in there at least fifteen minutes before the bell rang and had just decided to spend the time being somewhat productive, as Rachel would say, you know…if she'd bother with wrenching her luscious lips off of mine to speaks actual words right now.

"Leave them alone, they're so adorable!" Sunshine hissed – evidently completely back on the Puckleberry love train now that Rach and I were firmly reestablished.

A few mumbles reached my ears and though I knew not everyone was as devoted to our relationship as her, it seemed like the majority was more or less agreeing with Sunshine. It was kindda nice not being hated anymore, I gotta admit. Well, there's always next week, my inner pessimist pointed out before I tuned him out.

Mr. Shue walked in and I lost my train of thought when Finn immediately held up his hand, asking to speak. I looked down at Rachel, making sure that my best friend hadn't possessed her body, I was pretty sure that there had to be some kind of spirit transferring or some crazy shit like that going on, 'cause Finn never acted like Rachel.

It seemed like Rach knew what I was thinking, 'cause she just rolled her eyes and told me in a hushed tone to pay attention.

While I'd had a momentary freak-out, Finn had gotten up from his chair and walked down next to Mr. Shue, talking about how great and popular he was now that he'd won the championship game, but it was only with his next words he got my full attention; something about a kissing booth now that Valentine's Day was so close and I just had to object.

"Dude, that's just a lame idea to get some girl's to plant one on you; and frankly, I'm sort of fucking insulted that you act like you were the only one running around on that field, Hudson. I mean," here I glanced around at the other players in the room, "there's no 'I' in team, right? And if anyone deserves to act all cool and stuff, it's your very own baby mama, 'cause unlike you, she actually got hurt."

"Yeah!" Lauren roared, pumping her fists in Finn's direction with a threatening glare to boot.

For some reason, Lauren joined New Directions after the game by the way; casting one too many looks in my direction for me to misunderstand her interest really. But looks, or not, it only proved that she had great taste, 'cause Puckzilla is an awesome example of the male specimen, you can't deny that.

She was actually pretty cool, so I grinned my thanks to her for her exuberant support that by now had spread to the others who'd played that night.

After a few minutes of pure pandemonium, where Finn's face had gotten more and more red, Mr. Shue finally seemed to remember that he was an authority figure and stepped in front of Finn to get us all to calm down a little.

In the end, it was decided that all the football players would set up a booth and take requests for kisses.

I have to admit it though that when that had been decided, I looked to Rachel both for permission (yep, I guess I'm back to being majorly whipped, but fuck if I care!) and for protection. I mean, Lauren could still be heard bragging about how much cash she had to buy my services.

Overall, it was a pretty sweet idea, and we'd definitely raise a hell of a lot more money this way then if Finn had been the only one doing it.

Of course, now those of us from glee that had played football had to go get Coach Beiste to agree to lend us the rest of the football team for the whole stunt to work, but then also to get her to convince Azimio and the others to actually hand over their share of the cash for our trip to Nationals in New York.

Gotta say, I'm pretty stoked that I'm not in her shoes…just sayin'.

0o0o0

A few days later, it all kindda turned out okay to my big surprise. I'd sort of imagined that the rest of the football team would revolt at the prospect of losing hard earned cash, but I guess the opportunity to kiss a lot of chicks could cool even the most hot-tempered guy out there.

Well, the only one not looking like he'd just lost a winning lottery ticket was Dave and I got that he wasn't exactly thrilled about putting his mouth anywhere near a female; but as the day drew nearer for the event to start, I didn't have much time to sympathize, 'cause I was dodging Lauren's increasingly expressive attempts at buying me for an entire day.

I was quickly getting pretty fucking terrified and the day when the football team lined up in the hallway at the ugly ass booth that the girls had decorated with girlish pink paper and big red hearts that spelled, 'Be my Valentine' and all that bull, I was ready to cry for my Ma…well, if she hadn't been a bitch that I could hardly stand these days and all.

Coach Beiste and Mr. Shue were standing behind us as we lined up in two queues and let Finn shout about the whole concept to catch the passing girls' attention as they made their way to the cafeteria. I guess there were there to make sure the Gleeks and the Jocks didn't wind up killing each other.

Now, I know I'm a hot piece of tail and that I'm more or less the most awesome guy in the whole town of Lima, but even I was surprised when a lot of the girls whipped out their dollars and called for me to kiss them.

I glanced around to see if I could find Rachel in the crowd, but she was just too fucking tiny to stand out in the midst of so many people, at least when she wasn't singing or something. With a sigh, I nodded at the nearest girl; a black haired girl that I vaguely recognized as a junior that I once made out with at one of Azimio's parties P.R (pre Rachel in case you were wondering).

I cringed internally when I remembered how I'd been well on my way to fuck her in Azimio's kid brother's room when Santana had stumbled in and thrown her half naked ass out before turning to me and blowing me and thus erasing any and all thoughts of the girl after that.

"Hi Puck," she smiled widely, and leaned forward – not even the least bit bitter of the fact that I'd humiliated her and more than likely ruined her reputation. I smiled with what I hope was an apologetic look in my eyes and quickly pecked her lips.

The next girl was one I actually had slept with about two weeks before I'd slept with Quinn and by the looks of it she was interested in a repeat performance. I kissed her and had to resist wiping my mouth with open disgust when she tried pushing her tongue through my closed lips.

After that it got easier; mostly 'cause I soon realized that most of them seemed to respect the no open mouth rule and left quickly after the sad excuse of a kiss I gave them. Easier that is, until Lauren pushed past the girl in front of her and slammed a hand full of crinkled dollar bills down on the table with a predatory look in her eyes.

"Now let's get it on," she practically growled and I swallowed harshly. She leaned forward, puckering her lips and before I knew it, I was being held in an iron tight grip and kissed like there was no tomorrow.

When she broke away after what seemed like a fucking eternity, I drew in deep breaths of much needed air, "Damn Zizes," I panted and took a cautious step backwards, ready to bolt in case she wanted more. Then she shocked the hell out of me when she just shrugged and adjusted her glasses.

"Well that was definitely disappointing, Puckerman." And then she threw another couple of bills on the table and grabbed me again as quick as a fucking viper, "I have to see if second time's a charm."

Just before Lauren's lips reached mine, and I debated whether or not I'd lose face by jumping out the nearest window and fleeing, a tiny hand suddenly appeared right in front of our faces and then it unceremoniously pushed Lauren backwards a few steps.

"I think that's quite enough," Rachel's voice was like steel and she'd raised an eyebrow in warning. Shit, she looked hot when she was possessive. "I do believe you've had your fun, Lauren. Now, take your money and go set your eyes on one of the other players," here Rachel's lips twisted into a smirk that damn near made me cum on the spot and she added coyly, "I do believe Azimio is quite the kisser and wouldn't disappoint you as my boyfriend so seemingly did."

Lauren stared down Rachel for a long while and the silence grew around us as people realized there was a chance of a chick fight happening, but my little woman didn't even blink; instead she just smiled widely and waited patiently.

Finally, Lauren sighed and took the cash and walked over to a rapidly paling Azimio with the words, "Come here, Big Boy, let me show you how a real woman wants it." Can't say I was feeling sorry for him, 'cause that shit was hilarious when I wasn't the victim.

I was so caught up in listening to Azimio whimper that I jolted a little when Rachel's hand landed softly on my cheek and turned my head back in her direction. Her eyes were alight with enjoyment and I couldn't help smile. It was times like these that I realized I was happy that no one but me had ever bothered getting to know her fully. She was just plain wonderful.

Yeah, I'm a fucking sap, who cares anymore?

"How about I procure your services now, before you can take a much earned break?" Rachel asked with a smile, "It seems like Finn's getting more and more requests so the profit won't suffer from your slight absence."

"Babe," I grinned and wrapped my arms around her slender waist, pulling her closer. "For you, it's gonna free."

When we came back up for air, so to speak a couple of minutes later, Rachel was flushed and I was just about to pull her into one of the unused classrooms for a little alone time, if you catch my drift, when I heard whistling that wasn't directed at us. I guess people at McKinley had gotten used to us glued together by now so we weren't interesting anymore.

I looked to my left and broke out into a huge grin at the sight in front of me. Rach gasped and squealed with delight as we watched Quinn, standing on the tip of her toes, forcefully plant one big ass kiss on Finn. He stood frozen, but then things changed as we all watched and his arms went around her and after that things turned a little too R-rated for me to stand looking too closely anymore.

Later that day, I heard from Artie, who'd stood next to the newly reformed couple that Finn had been kissed rather passionately by Sunshine and that had seemed to set off Quinn's possessiveness and she'd taken her man back.

About fucking time too, if you ask me. Of course I wish that Sunshine hadn't been hurt 'cause guess who she sought out for consolation?

You got it in one; Rachel was in full mother mode as she listened to Sunshine's declarations of crushed hopes and dreams and since I really wanted to sex up my girl before Caroline hit puberty, I sat still and nodded every once a while in mute support as I stared at a baseball game that Abraham had Tivo'd for me since most of my evenings had been filled with…err, other activities lately.

Anyway, I'd pretty much tuned their babbling out until I caught Rachel's last words of, "…completely understand your emotions right now, Sunshine. I mean, who hasn't been trapped in the Finn Hudson charismatic bubble? I know that when I fancied myself in love with him I-"

"Whoa, hold up," I held up my hand and turned to look at the girls. "You said you weren't gonna mention that around me ever again. Getting dumped by you 'cause you had gone all goo-goo eyed over my best friend was tough enough the first time, I don't need the replay."

Rachel raised an eyebrow and was about to say something when Sunshine's gasp of disbelief interrupted her. "You dumped your one true love for Finn? But I thought you'd been in love since…well forever and ever."

I shared a look with Rach and shrugged half-embarrassed now that I once again had to remember what a dick I'd been towards the mother of my kid. I'd probably never have thought to go after her if I hadn't gotten that dream from the good Lord himself that night…at least not as publicly as I ended up doing. Knowing me, I'd probably just have tried to seduce her in secret and treated her like a slut -you know, like I did with Santana.

"Admittedly our romance didn't start out as epically as one might think if you look at us now," Rachel finally said, sparing me the humiliation of revealing everything again. "But I have no doubt that even if I hadn't gotten pregnant with Caroline, then we'd eventually wind up together in the end anyway. Of course, it'd have had to be in the future when Noah was well on his way to impressing the music industry with his talent and I'd be on my way to my inevitable stardom – perhaps we'd meet over work some day and he'd ask me out, seeing that I'd matured rather well and after a few dates, we'd kiss and things would progress from there."

I grinned, loving that even in her imagination of a future that wasn't even on the map right now, I was successful; the girl continued to be my biggest supporter and I already knew that when she eventually became that big star she'd always envisioned, I'd be right there cheering her on every time.

But I couldn't let her know that just yet, gotta keep some of my man cards in my own possession after all, so I just chuckled and turned to Sunshine with a small smile.

"Look Sunny, I am really fucking thankful for the fact that Finn was too much of a dipshit to realize what he had when Rachel was all over him, but I also know that even if he had, she and him would never have lasted. 'Cause," I added seriously as I took out my cell phone and located a picture I'd snapped the night of Eve's birth, "this man only ever really had eyes for Quinn."

Sunshine stared at the tiny image of an exhausted, sweaty and all round gross looking Quinn where Finn was staring at her like she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life.

After that, there really wasn't all that much to say and Sunshine started tearing up and leaning on Rachel's shoulder and I quickly escaped into Caroline's room and stared down at her sleeping face, content with the fact that she hadn't reached the stage in her development where her tears made no sense...yet.

0o0o0

It was Valentine's Day and I was majorly thrilled that Rach hadn't invited Sunshine to stay in the guest room, 'cause I had plans for our morning before school.

I woke her up with breakfast in bed (shut up, I can cook when I want to, I used to do it all the time to feed my sister) and let's just say that Rach was glowing when we drove to school a little over an hour later.

All over McKinley it was clear what day it was. I spotted Coach Sylvester stealing some candy that a dude had just given his girl and stomped away with a wicked grin on her face. All around me, I could easily spot the couples and the single people, who all looked pretty down considering they all spewed crap about not giving a shit about the holiday to begin with.

Prepared to wow my girl's adorable knee socks off, I didn't really pay close attention to anyone else though. I did hear Mercedes and Rachel promise Kurt over the phone to meet him at the Hudson/Hummel residence for an emergency meeting regarding something boy related, but that was pretty much it.

I was so caught up in my planning to give Rach the perfect day that I felt like an idiot when I realized that Mike and Artie had prepared a song for their girls and I hadn't even thought of that. Damn it!

Then, at the end of the day in the choir room, we all watched with confusion and concern as Tina wailed through a song to Mike with tears smearing her gothic makeup and he wound up having to lift her off the floor and comfort her.

What did I say about confusing chicks and their tears? Just sayin'.

Rachel grabbed my hand while some of the other Gleeks tried getting Tina to… you know, breathe calmly again and nodded discreetly in Sunshine's direction. I looked and saw she was looking at Quinn and Finn, who hadn't looked away from each other ever since entering the room.

For once, I had to quote Santana, they were disgustingly cute, but I didn't say it out loud, 'cause I wanted to keep some illusion of manliness or whatever.

Sunshine sighed deeply and Rachel promptly invited her with her and Mercedes to Kurt's house later and that's when I realized that she wasn't gonna be around to participate in all my plans of a romantic night and I wanted to throw something; preferably Sunshine.

Anyway, I watched gloomily as Rach and Sunshine got in next to Mercedes and they drove off towards Kurt's house. Then I went home and sent the babysitter home for the day and took Caroline out for a walk. If I couldn't have a romantic evening with my woman, I'd have a kickass day with my little girl.

It was dark when we finally returned, having ended up spending some time with Sam, who I'd caught walking around looking for an after school job. How he was planning to make time for it with all his after school activities, I have no idea.

Caroline was wiped out so I quickly changed her and put her to bed, and walked through the empty house. Rachel's parents were out on their own Valentine's Day Date Night and I couldn't help but both admire them for their continued devotion to one another, but also envy them for it at the same time, 'cause I'd really wanted to spend this day with Rachel.

Aw, for fuck's sake, I was sounding more and more like a dude with a vagina attached behind his balls. I promised myself to go shoot some hoops after school the next and walked over to my bedroom door where I promptly stopped short.

There were two heart-shaped candles burning and I looked down, only to realize that I'd been walking on rose pedals since I'd gone up the stairs. I slowly opened the door and broke into a big smile, 'cause there Rachel was, lying on the bed clad in a negligee that I'm pretty sure her dads didn't know she owned.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Noah." She greeted me and gestured for me to come closer with a sultry look in her eyes.

"What about Beyonce and all that?" I asked, still standing frozen in the doorway.

Rachel smiled and got to her knees, giving my roaming eyes ample time to appreciate her body, "I enjoyed my time with them and we all agreed that we have to put more effort into our careers, but I went home early because, as I told them quite firmly, I have big plans for tonight."

"Oh you bet you do," I bent down and blew out the candles, 'cause safety was always an issue with me after Caroline had entered my life, before I stripped off my shirt and quickly walked over to Rachel.

And what happened after that really shouldn't be too hard to figure out, right?

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FORTYONE

So, things were pretty great after Valentine's Day. I walked around on cloud nine and to make things even better, Caroline had said something that totally sounded like "Dada," this morning; even if Rach kept saying that it was more like "ghahah."

Anyway, I was just totally in sync with the world and didn't even send Jacob the epic glare of disgust that I usually reserved just for him as I walked by him. Didn't seem like he appreciated it much though, 'cause he flinched at my presence and more or less tried to bury himself in his opened locker.

Gotta say, I thought he'd develop a tiny bit of claustrophobia after the last stunt I pulled on him, but I guess his fear for me was bigger than his fear of closed spaces; I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it a little bit.

But, to get back at matters at hand, I was still in a pretty sweet mood when walked into Spanish Class and smiled at Rach and Quinn talking quietly together with big smiles on their faces. If I had to guess, I'd say I wasn't the only who'd gotten lucky on Valentine's Day.

Oh well, I thought and slid into the empty seat next to Rachel, nodding a greeting to Quinn as she damn near beamed at me, all I had to do to be sure of my suspicions was go look at Finn, 'cause that dude was a regular Fred Astaire after getting laid…you know, just a lot less graceful and a hell of a lot more dangerous to be around.

I heard a whistling sound coming from the hallway and looked up, a knowing smirk spreading across my face as I watched a practically ecstatic Finn enter the classroom with somewhat of a swagger in his step. Oh yeah, he totally got reintroduced to Quinn's lady places there was no doubt about that in my mind.

A second later, me, and most of the other students present broke into laughter when Finn noticed Quinn and bounced towards her, only to step on Brittany's book bag and stumble dangerously, winding up in Artie's lap as he rolled by in that same moment, causing the poor guy to fall backwards slamming into Mr. Shue who tried avoiding the crash, only to trip over another ill placed bag and fall head first onto Mike's table. It was fucking hilarious, let me tell you.

In the end, Finn wasn't looking so chipper anymore and Mr. Shue had a growing bump on his forehead that looked like it wanted to come out and greet us.

0o0o0

Fantastic day aside, it did start to go the other way, when I went over to Rach's last AP class of the day before glee to walk with her to the choir room. She was standing with a red-faced Sunshine that looked slightly mutinous and turned to me with a look of betrayal in her eyes.

"What'd you do?" I promptly asked Sunshine, turning to her as I simultaneously took a firm hold of Rachel's hand.

Sunshine lifted her head a little higher – why she bothered, I don't even know; I mean, the chick's not getting any higher no matter what she does – and icily told me to mind my own manners.

I was about to object in my usual diplomatic way with a well placed 'fuck you', when Rachel squeezed my hand reassuringly and said softly, "Sunshine told me something in confidence and although I do not agree with it, I'll respect it and her privacy is hers to have and shouldn't be threatened out of her Noah, so don't even try."

Damn, she knew me too well. Ultimately, I just sighed and nodded a silent apology to Sunshine. I guess she could see it was half-hearted at best, 'cause she just shrugged and walked ahead of us with a slight huff.

I focused on Rachel and she just smiled. "It's not a horrible secret Noah, she just revealed something that I didn't find myself completely agreeing with and that's all. Now, how was your geometry class?"

She seemed fine now, so I put it out of my mind for now, promising myself to keep an eye out for trouble and just shrugged at her question, kissing her knuckles gently as we walked slowly towards the choir room.

When we arrived, I almost had a fucking heart attack, 'cause the moment we stepped through the door, I heard Mr. Shue ask to pass just before I was roughly pushed apart from Rachel, damn near slamming right into Brad the piano player as he was settling down on his seat. I looked over to growl something none too civilized at my assailant when I stopped short at the sight of a pretty depressed looking Coach Sylvester.

"What the fuck?" I muttered, feeling every instinct inside of me screaming about finding the nearest exit just in case.

"Move it along Baby Daddy," she said with her usual blend of acid and ice and promptly pushed Santana out of her seat to take her place – even though there were like ten other empty seats around her.

It turned out that Mr. Shue was on one of his 'good guy'-spiels this week and was sort of trying to cheer up Coach Sylvester. I sent him a mix between a glare and a plea, 'cause didn't the dude realize that that woman or she-male or whatever was fucking insane and adding happiness into the mix would probably spell disaster for us all?

0o0o0

It turned out that I was right as always when Coach Sylvester kept trying to make the entirety of New Directions get angry at each other and it almost worked all too well.

I mean, damn, Mercedes and Rachel all but started sending death threats per their eyes whenever they were in the same room. If she could've gotten away with it, I'm pretty sure Rach would've cut a bitch if you know what I'm sayin'.

When they had their (admittedly kick ass) duet to prove just who was the best (cough, Rach cough) it slowly transformed into a jam session where they wound up with big smiles on their faces. I loved my girl the most in times like these; her kind spirit couldn't be denied as she and Mercedes belted out the song and grinned loudly as it was over.

And then I was proven doubly right soon after when Coach Sylvester got her panties in a bunch and damn near killed the Coach of Aural Intensity and took over his spot to compete against us.

If I wasn't so fucking petrified of the broad, I'd have whooped her ass for that one, let me tell ya.

Anyway, aside from that whole mess going on, I was beginning to notice that my fellow Gleeks were starting back on their "Rachel Berry is worth so much less than us," crap and honestly, I was getting more and more pissed with every vivid example.

But, since Rach always pretended that it wasn't meant to hurt her like that; that they were her friends, I couldn't really do anything but sit tight and watch with clenched fists and fire burning out of my eyes as she tried for the nth time to be accepted without reservations.

I mean, fuck; Rachel got so desperate she even hired Brittany to be her popularity adviser or some crap like that. In the end, the dimwitted blonde ended up with all the attention and everyone acted like Rachel was a bitch for objecting – however slightly she did it.

At the end of the day, I had had enough when I walked by and saw Santana, Tina and Lauren of all people diss Rachel in a way that left me wanting to snap those bitches in half. I waited until Rach had walked away with her shoulders hunched forward and her head looking down, probably to hide tears if I had to guess, before I quickly walked up to the trio of evil and crossed my arms to keep myself from strangling them.

"You three are unbelievable," I growled, sending each of them a glare that could most likely melt through steel.

Santana blinked, not used to being called on her shit and Lauren and Tina gaped with surprised confusion.

"Don't talk about Rach like that again or I promise you all that it's gonna be the last thing you fucking do in this school." Yeah, okay, so threatening chicks weren't my finest moment and if Rach ever found out, she'd be the first to yell at me, but I didn't care; she deserved some respect and if I could make that happen for her, I damn well would try my hardest.

"Look-" Santana started to say, but I held up a hand and just looked at her before interrupting coldly, "You've said enough Satan; after the shit you've caused me and Rachel, I really thought you'd calm the fuck down and be civil to her, or at the very least keep out of her fucking way. And you," my eyes went to Lauren, "she's never said a bad word to or about you, but you stand here cackling like a hyena with the girl that keeps mentioning your size in whatever derogatory way possible. That's just low, Zizes."

My eyes went to Tina lastly, trying to ignore the part of me that wanted to laugh and point fingers at her, 'cause let's just say that her Rachel look didn't look nearly as good on her as it did on my sexy woman.

"And then there's you; the girl who faked a stutter and got crap about it from everyone but Rachel. She's always been willing to help out, sure she always wanted her solos and was a real brat about it most of the time, but still, she's always been there if anyone of us needed her and treating her like this just sucks ass. Go home and get dressed in your own clothes again, 'cause let me tell you all," here I scanned all three of them with contempt, eying their outfits, "none of you rock the look better than her. And I'm done now, so go fuck yourselves before I do something Rach will probably make me regret."

I turned to leave but stopped abruptly when my eyes caught Rachel's across the hallway; evidently, she'd witnessed the whole thing and briefly I felt a flash of fear of what'd she'd do or say, but then I beat it down and walked over to her, 'cause angry or not, I didn't regret one word.

Hell, a big part of me wanted to grab all the other members of New Directions and drag them into the choir room and just finally vent all of my anger of the treatment people always gave Rachel; it was like she just had to be the villain and I wasn't gonna stand for it anymore.

"Noah…" Rachel's soft spoken words brought me back to the present and I looked down at her still glassy eyes, "you really shouldn't have done that…"

I shrugged, throwing an arm across her shoulder, "who gives a shit? I'm not sorry. I just wish I could've done more." Although, I was kindda worried she'd go off on me in a tantrum to defend those bitches that didn't deserve it. However she surprised me big time a second later, when she looked up at me with a small smile and just kissed my cheek without a word.

I can't lie, my heart skipped a beat when she did that, and I vowed right then and there to protect her like this a lot more than I'd been doing, 'cause she had never looked more beautiful to me than right then.

0o0o0

Things in glee turned rather…well, weird after my little outburst that of course had become public knowledge somehow – and no, Jacob wasn't responsible, 'cause I knew for a fact that the guy wasn't gonna pick up a camera for at least another year…

Don't ask.

Brittany was pulled aside by Santana and within a day, she'd donned her usual style and left Rachel's the fuck alone, which suited me just fine to be honest. I mean, despite everyone wearing her clothing style, I still hadn't seen one chick that could rock knee socks just as awesomely as Rach could.

Lauren quit glee club and went back to focusing wholly on her wrestling; she brusquely said to Rach that she could always count on her if she needed help and vanished out of the club just as quickly as she'd come.

Tina went back to her usual gothic style and was the only one to actually verbally apologize to Rachel, albeit discreetly and with a scowling Mike standing behind her. I guess he'd heard about everything as well and was just as impressed by her behavior as I'd been, meaning not at all of course.

Mr. Shue was oblivious to it all as always, wrapped up in the fact that Miss Pillsbury was gonna be a miss again and then the whole thing with Coach Sylvester as well, I think.

And then, a few days later, we all got more to worry about, 'cause Principal Figgins suddenly decided that drinking was way bad and needed to make a statement about it and somehow roped our oh so lovely teacher into volunteering us to sing at the assembly…I mean, hadn't they learned by now that that rarely went well with us?

First time, Rachel had all but fucked Finn on stage (I glowered at a confused looking Finn in class when the memory hit me), then we'd caused a fucking riot with the whole Britney Spears mess – this time I had to repress a shudder at the memory of Mr. Shue shaking his groove thing..I mean, can anyone say gross?

Well, I sighed and tried to focus on the class so I didn't have to explain to Rach why I didn't understand the homework, hopefully, third time would be a charm; I mean it couldn't get any worse, could it?

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FORTYTWO

"Darn it all, Noah," Rachel growled, making a certain part of me twitch, 'cause she looked so fucking cute when she did that, "I can't think about anything else but my stupid headband. Can't we just go home for now?"

Grinning, I shrugged obnoxiously and sat down next to her on the piano. "Babe, it was your fu-"

"Noah!" Rachel interrupted me, glancing behind her at Caroline, who was busy crawling around on the floor, giggling loudly at some of the faces that her latest toy could make. "Small ears are present."

"Fine," I sighed, mock irritated and continued on with a grin, "It was your effing idea to use original songs at Sectionals and-"

"Regionals, Noah; honestly, I can't believe you still make this mistake after being with me for so long."

"Babe," I raised a brow, expertly hiding the fact that I did it on purpose to get a rise out of her. Seemed only fair, watching her for hours biting her pencil and trying to write songs with a cute little frown of concentration was getting a rise out of me most of the time, if you know what I'm sayin'. "Wanna let me finish a sentence this year or should I just stop trying?"

Rachel rolled her eyes at me, but I could clearly see the mirth dancing in those brown orbs, so I wasn't that worried. "I'm merely pointing out that you're incorrect in your statements, Noah, ergo the need to interrupt you all the time."

Ergo? Who even said that anymore? I couldn't help but smirk, and lean forward a little. "You're always good at that, Berry."

Rachel laughed her tinkling laugh and copied my movement a tiny bit and I was kindda bummed that Caroline wasn't sleeping, 'cause if she'd been asleep I would totally have banged her mom on the piano. Instead, I settled on a kiss that would inevitably rock Rach's world so I leaned forward a little more to do just that when we were –you guessed it - interrupted.

By Finn of all people, with Quinn and Eve in tow; it would seem they were just as annoyingly into each other and Rachel and I was. If only they'd respect my need for solitude with my woman and things would be great.

"Hi you two," Rachel got to her feet and went to grab Caroline, who'd gotten a wee bit close to the bundle of chairs for it to be comfortable for any of us. "What's up?"

"If it ain't important, beat it," I ordered with my usual diplomatic finesse and took Caroline out of Rachel's arms when the little munchkin tried to more or less jump out of them as she caught sight of me. Yep, just another proof that women of all ages wanted to be around the Puckerone bag of Awesomeness.

"Noah!" Rachel admonished and turned to Quinn, "I'd apologize for my boyfriend's uncouth mouth but you all know how he is by now so it'd be futile."

Quinn smiled and handed Eve to Rachel, who immediately went back into mother mode and made funny faces at the little girl, who ate it all up just as eagerly as our kid did.

"Actually we came because we heard a little birdie sing about you being on your own this upcoming weekend, ("My Dads are on a much awaited Rosie O'Donnell Cruise; they wanted us to tag along, but school would suffer too much- oh, I'm sorry; please continue", Rach blushed at the small glare her best girlfriend sent her way before continuing like Rachel hadn't said a word) and…well," Quinn's eyes traveled up to Finn who was still gulping at the death glare I was sending his way for ruining my fun with my girl. She nudged him rather firmly in the ribcage and he broke out of the well deserved terror I'd awoken in him.

"Oh, yeah and err…" he looked down at Quinn for something, it was clear that they'd rehearsed their lines before seeking us out and my annoyance was slowly transforming into amusement. Of course, then Finn finished his request and I was outright joyful. "We kindda wanted to throw a party at your house, getting us all together and pumped up and stuff like that."

I was immediately on board, 'cause let's face it, I hadn't exactly cut loose for a while. Not that I missed it, don't go thinking that, but still, I was a teenage boy who had a hot girl and a hell of a lot of hormones and a house to ourselves. You do the math.

But, none surprisingly, Rachel wasn't as keen on the idea as me and pointed out that Mr. Shue had volunteered us all for a song at the assembly, to promote alcohol awareness and then a long spiel about double standards and other phony words I barely knew the meaning off.

It was only when Quinn said she'd arranged for Finn's mom, Carol to babysit and Finn threw in a comment about Rachel not knowing how to have fun that she eventually changed her mind.

"All right," I grinned, lifting my little girl up in the air and meeting her sparkling eyes that looked so much like my own that it was eerie sometimes, "Guess the Most Awesome Kickass Puckleberry House Party Extravaganza is officially a go."

0o0o0

"Dude, no wonder you never invite us over to shoot pool in your basement," it was Mike, who dared utter the words and I sent him a soundless snarl; letting it travel to the other Gleeks that seemed to share his immediate distaste of the "art" in front of us.

I mean, sure; the portrait that Hiram and Abraham had had made of Rachel the summer before I started dating her the first time was ugly – hell, it was downright creepy, but I'd be damned if I'd let any of my so called friends point it out to Rach, who'd always been extremely touched by the monstrosity.

Thankfully, Quinn arrived in the door to the basement just in time to hear Mike's remark and she promptly slapped him on the back of his head and continued on her way, throwing a comment my way that Rach needed me in our room and I quickly left, secretly hoping she needed me to fuck her senseless before the party really got going.

But all thoughts of sexing up my usually hot as fuck woman got derailed the second I saw what she was wearing. It looked like a carpet and a 70's drape had mutated into something that someone had vomited on…with light green frills…

"Babe…" I began, my eyes almost crying for mercy as I just couldn't look away, "is that what you're wearing?"

Rachel looked down at herself before meeting my gaze with this cute little frown of confusion. "Yes, Noah; this is my wardrobe for the evening. It was basically a steal; I got it one day when I was out walking with Caroline and I just haven't had the right occasion to wear it yet. This is definitely it, don't you think? Or…" Rachel's old insecure self briefly resurfaced and I wanted to kick myself in the nuts for making that happen, "don't I look good enough?"

Shaking off the pure revulsion I had for that God awful dress( and I use that term loosely here) of hers, I swept her into my arms and slanted my lips across hers in the most passionate kiss I could muster without taking us to the next level.

"You're always a big ass beauty to me," I smirked, grinning widely when Rachel's face morphed into something that clearly didn't know whether to be delighted at the compliment or…well, offended by my compliment's pretty non poetic vocabulary. In the end though, Rachel just smiled and took my hand, dragging me down to the basement where Quinn had played the hostess until we returned.

It took about thirty minutes, but then most of the people we'd invited were present, and as I was just about to text my last invites about their whereabouts there fell an awkward silence over everyone and I looked up the stairs to meet Dave's nervous gaze.

It wasn't just Dave's – for everyone but a select few – unexpected arrival that brought on the silence; no, it was the person who was standing quietly next to him with a barely repressed sneer on his face; Azimio.

I honestly didn't know what the fuck to do, 'cause I wanted Dave to be here, but that fuckwit with him, could just die for all I cared after all the shit he'd heaped on us over the last year; but once again, Rachel took the decision for me and quickly walked up the stairs to envelope Dave in a fierce hug.

"David, I'm so happy you could make it; and you brought your friend as well...Although not expected Azimio; welcome to my home and I hope you'll enjoy yourself and be nice."

The 'or else', was clearly visible in Rachel's tensed shoulders so I hurried after her and placed my hands on her shoulder to relax her, meeting Azimio's gaze at the same time.

"Fuck with us and I'll make you bleed. Other than that; have fun." Was my greeting and I slapped him sociably on the back, just a tiny bit harder than was comfortable before I dragged Rachel with me down to the others.

"I gotta say, Dave's got some balls to bring his pal here," I practically spewed venom, the moment, Rach and I were in the back gathering cups for everyone (don't make me tell you about the full out battle I had had to convince her that we'd need real alcohol at the party…)

Rachel sighed, handing me a bag of unopened cups to place near the unopened bottles on the table as she spoke softly, "I don't think David is responsible for this unconventional invite."

I followed the discreet look she sent into the other side of the room and damn near dropped my jaw at the sight of a blushing Azimio nodding down at the pint sized Sunshine, who looked way too happy that the school's number one bully (after I'd retired of course) was near her.

Something struck me in that moment and I instantly returned my attention to Rachel. "Wait; is that what you two were arguing about the other day? Sunny's digging the wannabe Puckzilla?"

Rachel chuckled gently at my words and just nodded. "I couldn't quite keep myself from reminding her of the things he'd done over the years, least of all the part where he all but put you in your grave."

I rolled my eyes fondly; Rachel was still extremely hung up about that and I had to admit that a tiny part of me was enjoying it immensely. I mean, I'd never had someone so righteously angry on my behalf before I started dating her and I loved every second of it.

"I gotta say that the girl gets around; wasn't she totally into Finn like a minute ago?"

Rachel shrugged; a move she seemed to have picked up from me. "I honestly cannot understand the going on's in that girl's mind; but I promised to respect her choices and thus I have to say; let's party."

I raised a fist in the air and roared the same words and breaking through the silence that still lingered in the room. And just 'cause I could, I added a few 'motherfuckers' and 'hell yeah's' as well.

0o0o0

The party itself was fucking amazing most of the time. There'd been a little drama when Kurt tried to sneak out with an already clearly intoxicated Blaine that didn't want to leave. What the hell that party animal was doing hanging around Beyonce I didn't know, but Rach vouched for him and said some crap about knowing ones enemy or something like that.

Dave had shown his balls yet again and stopped the smaller guy from leaving, apologizing loudly and I caught a few confused looks 'cause no one but a very few of us knew just what he was actually saying sorry for. I guess they all had sort of forgotten the bullying thing for the night.

Kurt had frozen up like…well, something frozen; clearly struck numb by the abrupt apology, but then Blaine jumped in and hugged them both, yelling about love and harmony and I don't know what else, but Kurt and Dave both smiled at him, so I guess it's a gay thing. Good for them.

Anyway, we played Spin the Bottle for a bit and I got to see some pretty weird couples emerge, if only for the few seconds the kiss took. I mean, Rach and Quinn were totally hot and I wasn't the only one adjusting my pants; hell even Santana looked at little hot and bothered at the sight. Then there was Artie and Mercedes, who couldn't stop giggling; Brittany and yours truly (I merely pecked her on the lips quickly, 'cause I had slept with her once and didn't want Rachel to be too uncomfortable – fuck off, I'm not whipped…much.).

Finn got Sunshine, but wisely called for a bathroom break to avoid any confrontations between the tiny girl and his current girlfriend, who – as time went on – turned out to be a pretty mean drunk.

Then Blaine got me and I showed him – and everyone else - that I wasn't in the least bit scared of my masculinity and kissed the snot out of him. Gotta say though, I was a bit worried when he sent me a dazed smile and slipped me his phone number a few seconds afterwards.

Sam got to kiss a completely hilariously giggling Tina and a twitching Mike got the, for some reason weeping Santana. The kiss between a reluctant to participate Rachel and Azimio though, damn near made me see red for a few seconds, 'cause she was giving him all she had.

It was only after that I realized that she was proving a point, 'cause she smirked and leaned back into my arms and slurred drunkenly, "I may be a boring Gleek that somehow deserves to be ostracized by you and yours and everyone else, but if your dick isn't hard right now, my dads are really heterosexual men living together to avoid the unwed females of Lima, Ohio."

Everyone was silent for a split second, before Sunshine suddenly burst into a drunken snort and we all started laughing. When things settled down again, we continued with the game where Kurt's bottle stopped at Dave's unmoving form.

"I gotta-" Dave began, probably prepared to beg out of the kiss like the coward he was, but then Kurt, who'd started drinking only after Blaine had started making googoo eyes at me, sighed dramatically and beckoned him closer.

"I hope this one will be better," he said cryptically and planted his lips squarely on Dave's and well, I gotta say I don't know who was more shocked when Dave suddenly took charge of the kiss and showed the smaller guy just how much better he could be.

"What the hell, Dude?" I heard Azimio whisper yell, just as wasted as the rest of us, but Blaine just swung his arms around him and kissed him as well. Now that was something I know I'll never forget, 'cause that was just fucking awesome.

And, I heard a telltale click and looked away to see that Rach had whipped out her phone and snapped a picture of that kiss. She looked up at me and snuggled closer to me, "this way, if he spreads rumors about David and Kurt, I'll threaten to expose his own homoerotic tendencies in the locker room before football practice come Tuesday; I just know he'll be a lot more reasonable after that."

Was it any wonder why I fucking loved this chick? Really?

"This is just the best party ever," I grinned and kissed her, not even noticing that Kurt vanished quickly after his second – and third – kiss with Dave Karofsky, leaving a very hyper dark haired Dalton Student to sing some karaoke with Mercedes until he passed out on her boobs on stage.

0o0o0

Of course, I wasn't so happy the following Monday when I had to get up early to attend to Caroline 'cause Rach was busy paying homage to the toilet gods for the nth time since our party.

I mean, fuck I really must have gotten rusty, 'cause I was still slightly hungover with the headache from hell even though it'd been almost two days since the damn party and poor Rachel, who'd been a regular booze virgin was just not handling it well at all.

The only time any of us managed to behave like actual human beings was when we were with Caroline. Carol had been pissed when she realized just why she'd been asked to babysit when Finn came stumbling home, trying to do the Locomotive with Quinn firmly attached to his back – seems like she was only a mean drunk to people who weren't Finn and Rachel.

Anyway, she'd gone batshit crazy, but somehow still managed to keep Kurt's dad from finding out about it, saying something about not wanting him to have another heart attack. But she'd waited until Finn and Quinn returned to the land of the living the next day before enacting her perfect revenge; handing them their fussy daughter and leaving for work.

I would have thought it to be a fucking funny thing, if not for the whole her showing up at our house and doing the same thing with Caroline before the whole going to work thing.

And now, after handing the little bundle of energy (where she got it from, since she'd been awake most of the fucking night, I'll never know), to the nanny and I was heading off to school with a very pale Rachel. I rummaged around in the glove compartment for a second before emerging with two pairs of sunglasses. She looked ready to cry with relief as they were put on and I managed a smile…or judging from the soothing shoulder brush she gave me, it might have been a grimace.

Judging from the numerous other sunglasses clad Gleeks (and Dave and Azimio), we weren't the only ones still feeling the aftereffects of the party. We stood in a semicircle, attracting quite a few looks when Dave and a weird looking Azimio joined us – the latter taking up stance next to the exchange student, who barely reached his elbows. From the slightly turned head in Dave's direction every now and again, I got a pretty big suspicion that the black jock was finally in the know about where Dave preferred to stick his dingdong, so I promised myself I'd look out for any possible trouble…as soon as I was able to walk without my brain hopping about my skull of course.

Our little silent meeting was broken up when Mr. Shue suddenly showed up and reminded us all that we had a long torturous day ahead of us; practicing for that damn assembly…

"Rach," I whispered in the terrified silence that our ignorant teacher left behind, "if I go hide in my truck until this day is over, will you think less of me?"

"Only if I'm not there with you," was her reply and I grabbed her hand and dragged her to our sanctuary as quickly as my aching head would allow.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FORTYTHREE

So it'd been a pretty hectic week to be honest. First there'd been the assembly to prevent the students from drinking or showing up drunk and crap. It had gone more or less just like I'd predicted. More 'cause of the fact that it'd gone straight to Hell with a capitol H and less like I imagined 'cause of some very unwanted bodily functions.

For some reason or another, Rachel and Kurt had shown up at show time with some very poisonous looking shit that we drunk for some lame reason and…Well, let's just say that it's gonna be a long time before any of us are ever gonna even sniff at a bottle of alcohol again, 'cause damn…

Anyway, we got lucky 'cause Figgins proved just what a retard he can be sometimes and actually congratulated us for a job well done, obviously thinking that the spewing on stage had been fake (I wish…) and thus making us experts at preventing teen drinking.

Mr. Shue had gotten all parental and shit and somehow sworn off drinking too, but then again, I wasn't the one who'd gotten his drunk dial publicly played all over school, so I guess I could understand the dude no matter how lame he sounded – I mean he's an old dude and not underage after all.

Things had barely settled down a bit from that whole mess before things took another unexpected turn, 'cause suddenly one day in the middle of Glee, Mr. Shue stood up and announced that we were all sorely lacking in the safe sex department and that he'd found a kickass teacher to help educate us – okay, he didn't use those exact words, but that's what he meant.

In the next moment, in walked Miss Holiday and I couldn't help but break into a spontaneous applause, 'cause that chick was just my kind of gal…I mean, aside from the now glaring brunette at my side of course.

Sure, I sort of lost a little of my affection for the leather clad substitute when she immediately started lecturing us about sex and protection and stuff. I mean, she looked pretty scolding down her nose at not only Rachel and me, but at Finn and Quinn as well when she mentioned birth control and I saw the shameful flinch that it earned from Rach and to a heavier degree from the very Christian Quinn.

I wasn't having any of that shit on my watch.

"Yo," I held up my hand and interrupted her, just as she was starting to talk about the fact no, that you couldn't get AIDS from a cucumber – which okay was nice to know, but not really on my mind right now, "just wanna clarify something here."

Mr. Shue swallowed; obviously recognizing the signs of my protective side showing up, but Miss Holiday simply nodded and smiled at me.

"Yeah it's true that I knocked Rachel up, and it was unexpected but it wasn't a mistake. And I don't give a crap if you all go around and think so, 'cause Rach and I are the only ones who know what happened that day so…" my fire sort of died when I realized I wasn't really selling my point all that much, but then I felt Rachel's small hand on my thigh and felt comforted as she took over from me.

"What Noah is no doubt trying to say in his own unique way is that we are very much aware of protection during sex and although we got pregnant during my first time, I'd just like to point out to all who are ever so interested," here Rachel turned in her seat and glanced at most of the other Gleeks, making me wonder if they'd asked her about why the responsible Rachel Berry had been stupid enough to get knocked up in the first place, before she turned back and looked Miss Holiday straight in the eyes again, "I used birth control even then and the fact that I was impregnated was simply due to the fact that the only one hundred percent safe sex option is abstinence and not because I wasn't being responsible in the heat of the moment. I would like to add that if Noah and I were really as ignorant and silly as you and many others (here Rach's eyes wandered around the room yet again) seem to think so, Miss Holiday, wouldn't I already be pregnant again if that was the reality of the situation? I'm sure Quinn and Finn are of the same mind as Noah and I."

There was a long drawn out silence where I didn't really know if I wanted to laugh or scowl, 'cause I was still a bit miffed at the fact that Rach had been brutally asked about this kind of thing without telling me.

In the end, I just put my arm around her and nodded for the now slightly befuddled teachers to continue with their lecture.

0o0o0

The following week was pretty peaceful for me and Rach; I mean, sure there was the usual drama going on in glee club with Santana somehow ending up singing to Brittany with way too much emotion for any of us present to be comfortable.

There was still a bit of tension between those of us who'd had run ins with Azimio and Sunshine who'd kept true to her crush after the party. I guess our understanding and acceptance had gone out the window the moment the booze left our system; but to be completely honest, I didn't really give a shit 'cause I was just in such a great place with Rachel at the moment and didn't have need to gossip and crap.

And okay, Dave was sort of out in Glee club now, but somehow it wasn't a big deal; I guess people just thought that Kurt had bewitched him with his homo powers or something, 'cause it just never got mentioned.

So, to sum up, I spent the week in Rachel Land. Or we spent the week in Puckleberry land; I guess I should say until I was hit with a dose of reality to bring me back to Earth.

On the day it happened, I was sitting on the floor playing with Caroline, who seemed to think that every little item in her presence was supposed to be either touched, chewed or just destroyed with a cute little giggle that never stopped bringing a proud grin on my own handsome mug. Rachel was eying us while she talked on the phone with Quinn, something about Eve's continued inability to walk all that gracefully.

If you ask me, I just think she'd inherited her dad's less than stellar gracefulness and that Quinn was worrying for nothing 'cause that kid was fucking doomed, but oddly enough, Rach hadn't really been all that happy about me pointing that out...Go figures.

Anyway, we were both occupied when Abraham came in from the kitchen where he'd been talking quietly on the landline for a while now, looking a little weird. I mean, he looked both apprehensive and a little bit hopeful as well, so I knew it wasn't gonna be something easy to deal with.

"Noah," he glanced over at Rachel, who had clearly seen the same as I had, 'cause she was busy wrapping up her conversation with Quinn, "that was your mother on the phone and she was wondering if-"

"Nope," I brusquely interrupted, standing up and bending down to scoop up my daughter, who squealed in delight at the sudden movement.

"What do you mean 'nope'?"

"Just what I said, nope, Abe; no matter what that broad wants, I'm not up for it – not again." I could already feel the headache coming on and I wasn't really sure how I felt. I honestly thought I'd let go of that woman completely, but I guess I'd just been kidding myself when it came down to it.

"It's not what you think," Abraham held up a hand; the phone still in his hand as he looked at me almost pleadingly, "I know how you stand with everything in regards to her, but she wasn't calling for herself; she was calling for Hannah."

Hannah? My body tensed and for one dreadful moment, I could feel fear for her safety seeping into me. "Is she…?"

Rachel abruptly ended her call and came to my side; evidently I was broadcasting Panic pretty damn loud and clear.

"Your sister is perfectly all right, Son," Abraham hurried to sooth me and I exhaled deeply in relief. "Your mother wanted to let us know that Hannah's been asking about you and wanted to know if it'd be okay for her to drop her off here for a visit tomorrow – it would seem that she's regained custody over your sister and is feeling sad that your continued dispute is causing Hannah heartbreak."

"I…" Fuck, I felt shame wash over me; aside from a quick call every now and again and some presents, I hadn't really thought much about my sister for a while. I hadn't even known that Ma- My mother had regained custody. I was a shitty brother, wasn't I?

Abraham seemed to read my thoughts and just smiled at me, silently telling me in his own way to stop worrying over stuff I couldn't really control anyhow.

"It sounds like a plan," I eventually managed to croak out through my rising guilt and Rachel's small hand at my back grounded me even as Caroline's wriggling to be let down brought a smile to my face. "I can't wait."

"I'll go call her back and let her know it's an agreement," Abraham stated and walked back into the kitchen where I spotted a very eager looking Hiram straining to listen into our conversation until he caught me looking and damn near got whiplash turning his head back down to the bubbling sauce in the pot, trying unsuccessfully to seem innocent.

They were my family now and I loved them more than I'd ever thought possible, but I'd never loved them all more then the next morning, when Abraham, Hiram, Rachel and Caroline stood flanking me as my mother drove into their driveway with a bouncing Hannah on the passenger seat next to her.

"Damn, she's grown," I murmured as the door opened and she jumped out of the car with the eagerness that showed her young age.

"PUCK!" Hannah bellowed and within seconds I had a very strong eight year old wrapped around my waist, choking the air out of me in all her happiness.

"Hey Brat," I greeted and twirled her around, only just realizing how much I'd actually missed the munchkin.

As Hannah and I were hugging the life out of each other, I vaguely noticed that Abraham walked over to my mother's car and muttered something to her. She tried catching my eye, but I didn't let her – still smarting internally over the last time we'd been around each other – and she drove out of the driveway and left us alone to reconnect – something I was actually a little thankful for.

0o0o0

Being with Hannah again was both awesome and sort of awkward at the same time to be honest.

In some ways, she was actually my first kid, 'cause I'd basically raised her during the times where our mother had been off the wagon and not really in any position to be around small kids.

And then in other ways, she was the girl that I'd sort of left at our grandma to take care of herself and deal with her mother showing up and getting her back and it was becoming clearer and clearer by each passing hour in her company, that Hannah fully expected that I'd return home with them sometime soon and it damn near broke my heart, 'cause even if I hadn't had Caroline to worry about there'd be no fucking way I'd move back into the Puckerman residence.

We'd had dinner and Hannah had helped Rachel bathe Caroline before showering herself and coming down to the living room to watch a Disney movie before bedtime. The plan was that she was gonna spend the night and then I'd drop her off outside of my old house before school, but when, in the middle of the movie where some retarded monkey was singing a jazz song, Hannah wondered out loud how I'd make room for Caroline in my room, I couldn't avoid the elephant in the room anymore.

With a sigh, I put the movie on pause, looking briefly into Rach's brown eyes for strength before I looked into the happy eyes of my sister and prepared to dash her hopes as delicately as I could.

"Hannah, kiddo…" Fuck it was hard, "Caroline's not gonna be in my old room tomorrow."

My sister frowned and tilted her head innocently. "But, won't you miss her if you're not around her every day?"

"I'm still gonna be…I mean…Aw fuck, Hannah; I ain't coming back with you tomorrow. I live here now." Subtlety thy name was not Noah Puckerman…

Hannah's eyes widened with disbelief, "don't you love me anymore?"

"Of course I do, Sis," I replied, reaching out to pat her affectionately on the head, "but I have my own family now that I just can't up and leave."

The little head under my hand twisted away and she pushed my hand to the side, "We're your family too; I was here first. I hate her! She's just one of your girls and I heard someone say it's not even sure Caroline is yours since Rachel is raised by amoral men."

Okay, so I'm not exactly proud of my next moment; not even a little bit, but I lost my temper. Quick as a snake I reached out and took a firm, but gentle ('cause I don't hurt girls like my old man) hold of her tiny arms and forced her to look into my eyes.

"Hannah Puckerman; where did you hear such bullshit?"

"Noah-" Rachel tried to intervene, but I just sent her a quick look and returned my attention to my now crying sister.

"Answer me, Hannah."

She squirmed and tried to rip her arms out of my grip, but I just kept staring at her like I used to when she'd broken something of mine and didn't want to confess to it. Finally, she broke and bit her lip before answering.

"At Temple. Some of Mom's friends were talking and I listened even though I'm not s'posed to listen into other people's talks. I'm sorry, don't be mad, Noah; Mom got real mad too."

I felt a short flash of gratitude that it wasn't Ma who'd said those heinous things and refocused on Hannah's now sobbing form in my arms.

"Shh, Sweetie," I hushed, wrapping her fully into my arms and got up to walk around with her like I'd done so many times before, "I know you didn't mean it."

"I miss you; please come home…" the words were whispered like a fucking prayer repeatedly in my ear as I tried calming my miserable sister down with all my might. I felt like a swine; I had never felt so conflicted in my life. On one hand, I hated disappointing her and leaving her alone with a parent that may not keep herself together for long and on the other hand there was no way I was leaving Rach or Caroline.

So in the end, all I could do was walk around with Hannah until she fell asleep in my arms; but not before she'd asked for Ma to come get her. And since I'd acted like a downright douche, I didn't even let a frown of disgust enter my face when Ma eventually pulled into the driveway and soon after knocked on the door.

In fact; I knew I looked like the teenager I really was as soon as I locked eyes with my mother, hoping against hope that she'd be able to fix this whole fucking mess; at least a little bit.

"She told me she wasn't gonna ask you to come home," Ma said quietly after I'd put Hannah into the car, bundled up with a few of the Berrys' spare blankets. "I told her your home was here now, but I guess she's not the only stubborn Puckerman around these parts."

I smiled a little ruefully, and quietly closed the door before turning to face my mother like the adult I now had to be.

"Tell her, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to upset her or ignore her; fuck, I didn't even know she'd moved back to you."

Ma smiled softly, her eyes sad but she no longer carried that glint of desperation for forgiveness and I kindda liked that; it meant that Hannah had a chance to get to know the mother I'd known before Daddy Dearest had messed her up too bad.

"None of this is your fault, Noah. I didn't get to apologize to you properly for all I've put you through, focusing mostly on Hannah since I knew you didn't want to be near me anymore; but I truly am sorry for everything that's happened between us –even before your little girl came into the world. And even though it doesn't mean that much to you anymore, I just want you to know that I'm damn proud of you."

There was a telltale feeling of burning in my eyes and I blinked back the tears that threatened to come without warning; 'cause I was not gonna stand out in the driveway balling like a pussy. I wasn't.

"And," Ma added before I got a chance to say or do anything but blink stupidly; "I'm gonna sit down and talk seriously with Hannah and she'll call you tomorrow before bedtime to apologize for her behavior here tonight, mark my words. And then…" there was a lengthy pause before she continued in a rush, "I hope that after that you and she will keep in touch and that you won't let your feelings for me affect your relationship with your sister."

"I won't." I promised solemnly, not really sure if I wanted to confess that I was feeling pretty confused right then on whether or not I really hated my Ma as much as I thought I did, but she didn't give me time to figure it out, 'cause in the next minute, she'd waved goodbye to Rachel and her Dads in the doorway, sent me a quick look of regret and driven away with my still soundly sleeping sister in the backseat.

I don't know how long I stood there; staring in the direction she'd disappeared to before Rachel's beautiful voice brought me back to the present.

"Noah, are you okay?"

And that's when I was suddenly overwhelmed without any real warning and I just turned around to wrap my arms around her and bury my face in the crook of her neck. "No," I croaked, fighting back those same damned tears from earlier, "not even a little bit."

"That's okay, Baby," Rachel crooned, stroking my 'hawk softly, "it will be some day. Everything's going to be just fine; I promise."

I didn't care how weak the whole holding onto her for dear life seemed to anyone passing by right then; I just sighed and held on to her tighter than ever, praying silently that someday she'd be proven right.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FORTYFOUR

After Hannah's emotional visit, I could feel myself grow a little bit more somber; don't get me wrong, I was still smiling and feeling almost like my usual self whenever I was around my girls, Abraham and Hiram and hell, I still enjoyed hanging around the other Gleeks( when they weren't being pain in the asses towards Rachel for one of their idiotic reasons, like everybody wanting to write original songs all of the sudden after dissing her ideas for weeks)…but through all of that, I now had this continuing cloud of guilt hanging over me and I knew it was affecting me more and more and getting more obvious to those who knew me well.

I only realized it 'cause I finally snapped one day during glee where Santana had just finished singing a song that…well, let's just say I'll never look at Sam's mouth the same after hearing it.

Rachel had been grumbling through every second of it and I found myself getting more and more annoyed at her; I couldn't see why the whole thing mattered to her anyway. As Santana was cut off from finishing her song, Rach mumbled something about thanking the man upstairs, albeit in a lot more words, and I turned to her and scowled.

"What's your problem? She's got every right to sing her fucking song, Rach."

Rachel's brown eyes widened drastically at my tone and she leaned away from me; I guess I didn't look too safe to be around at the moment and for some reason that pissed me off even more; she should know I would never harm her.

"Noa-" Rach began, but I just rolled my eyes and continued on spewing acid words that a big part of me was desperately trying to keep inside of me without success.

"It's not like you've got the right to act all high and mighty when the rest of us want to show off our writing; sure, Santana's song sucked, but you don't know if one of us – aside from you – got the perfect song in our head just waiting to pop out. Whether you like it or not, Berry, it's not always about you!"

"Hey!" I turned my head away from Rachel shocked and truly hurt eyes to face the one calling out and daring to interrupt me, only to get the mother of all slaps a second later, by a furious looking Quinn.

The logical part of me was all ready to grovel at Rach's feet, but I wasn't exactly in the right mind to listen to that part, so instead I stood up abruptly, tipping over my chair roughly and glared at the blonde I'd once crushed on. She too stepped back with widened eyes and Finn's big figure suddenly stepped in-between us and that's when I got a bit of my sanity back and I blinked out of the red rage that had enveloped me so suddenly and so viciously.

"Fuck…" I glanced around the room, skimming over all of the shocked expressions – even Mr. Shue looked completely gobsmacked at my sudden mood change - and then just turned and left the room, 'cause I didn't have the guts to look at Rach's disappointed eyes one more time. "Fuck!" I screamed as I exited the Choir Room and I just needed to get out all of my frustration.

But, since I was not the same moron I used to be in regards to tracking down a dweeb and bullying him for no good reason to feel a little better about myself, I slammed my hand into the nearest available object and didn't even wince when it turned out to be one of the glass windows into Miss Pillsbury's office.

Let's just say the expression on the guidance counselors face quickly brought me completely back to the real world and I tried to smile soothingly at the germophope even as I was taking out a pretty big piece of glass from my injured hand and arm.

Next thing I know, she's dragging me to the hospital; fortunately I wasn't followed by the entire glee club (not that they'd want me around any time soon if I had to guess) 'cause I'd hurt myself during class so no one had witnessed the incident. Thank fuck for that small mercy at least.

At the hospital, I finally convinced the frantic ginger haired woman to go home and I got her to promise not to say anything, citing some bull about confidentiality or something and I tried getting my shit together again as I sat there watching the doctor examine my hand, taking out the shards of glass still embedded in my skin.

And then, just as I thought the day couldn't get any worse, I was spotted by none other than my mother as she walked over to the doctor to tell him he was being paged.

"N-Noah!" She gasped and took in the pitiful sight of me sitting there with my bloodied shirt and the doctor stitching me up again. "What happened to you?"

"Apparently," the doctor answered when I refused, completely disregarding the whole doctor-patient confidentiality thing by the way, "Rambo here decided to see if glass is just as easily broken as in the movies, isn't that right, Son?"

"Just do your job," I murmured impolitely and looked away as my mother's voice said something about finishing me up and bandaging my arm and hand so the good doc could get on with his day.

"So…" she said after a few moments after the doctor left, "wanna tell me what this is all about? I know I don't have a right to ask and expect answers, Noah, but if possible, I'd like to know what's going on with you."

For some reason, I actually told her what had happened and why and then I went a step further and blurted out the whole fucking thing about feeling like crap after Hannah's visit and how much I'd realized I missed the little brat and stuff like that.

As I trailed off, finishing telling it all to my mother of all people, she just sighed heavily and looked down at the used instruments on the tiny table between us.

"I wish I could wave a magic wand and make everything better, but it never really works that way. What I can say is this though," Ma's eyes looked back into mine and I froze at the sheer amount of shame she was portraying to me, "you are not the one who's fucked up everything, Noah. Hannah knows that too – or at least realizes that I'm the real reason you had to be separated, trust me on that one."

The wry smile on her face told me that Hannah had been displaying her own tantrums in our mother's direction and I copied the smile without really noticing at first. "Told you she could be a real little bi…uhm, a real little Puckerman, remember?"

Ma grinned loudly, even snorting a little and I had a flashback to the last time I'd seen that particular grin. It'd been right before my dad left and I'd said something funny to Ma's swollen belly (I don't remember what exactly) that had set her off.

Damn, I guess she really was getting herself back together for real this time…

"Noah?"

I blinked out of my thoughts, noticing the raised brows on my mother's face that told me that she'd been speaking for a while. "Yeah?"

"You look tired. I think I should go call the Berrys'."

"No!" I exclaimed, standing up abruptly. Sheepishly I sat back down again when two big ass orderlies immediately reacted over by the doors, used to stepping in to protect the medical staff, I guess. "No, thanks," I corrected softly a moment later, when Ma had nodded that everything was okay to the before mentioned dudes.

"I hurt Rachel today, so I'm not even sure I'm very welcome there right now anyhow," I added quietly, when Ma just leaned back and crossed her arms in a move that clearly told me I was full of bullshit.

"Then at the very least," she said, "let me take you home and explain that it's perfectly natural for kids with abusive backgrounds to-"

Here I was the one snorting violently and shaking my head like she was speaking a foreign language, but to my big surprise, her small hands landed firmly on my shoulders a second later, and her eyes bore into mine with an intensity that made me want to run and hide for some reason.

"Don't do that, Noah," Ma ordered calmly and continued intently, as though me grasping her next words were the most important thing in her life, "You were abused, Noah Puckerman, of that there is no doubt. First by that idiotic father of yours and then – as if life hadn't dealt you enough of a shitty hand – I go and add to that scenario and forced you to grow up way to soon and abusing you my own damn self."

"Ma…" I was unable to speak further, 'cause damn, the look in her eyes were burning through my skin and into my very soul.

"I don't expect your forgiveness," she went on with a small, sad smile; "Hell, I don't even want it right now, 'cause I don't deserve it at all. Especially since I tried ruining your good life alongside that Shelby woman…anyway, that's not important; I just want to take my son home to his family so he doesn't wind up letting his temper fuck up his life like I did mine."

I had to swallow a small smile at her words, 'cause I knew that her language would've made Rachel gasp in outrage since my mother rarely talked like that in public…at least not when she was sober, I guess I should add, but something told me that I'd seen my mother drunk off her ass for the last time and I can't say that I didn't like the idea completely.

"Also," Ma slid her hands off my shoulders and looked away to regain her composure, "the whole thing with Hannah will blow over, she's already tried writing an apology letter to you several times and is waiting for you to call and tell her you hate her for saying such bad things about Caroline. Just act normal when you do call and time will mend the rest, I'm sure."

I sighed and stood up as Ma added briskly that we'd chatted enough for now and that she'd drive me home to the Berry house when her break started and that was to be the end of that.

0o0o0

As my mother dropped me off in front of the house (I'd convinced her that I'd prefer apologizing alone), I turned to walk inside and was met with Rachel's silhouette in the doorway. It was still rather early, so I realized that she'd went home after my blow up in Glee and I swallowed down my guilt as best as I could and tried to formulate a decent apology.

When Rachel didn't move a muscle, I honestly didn't know what to do. I mean, was I even still welcomed into her house? Was she just waiting for me to get to her so she could hand me my bag and throw me out officially, warning me off of ever seeing my daughter again?

The thought terrified me so much that I damn near forgot to breathe for a second.

I don't know how long we stood there, across the front lawn staring at each other. Her eyes filled with an unrecognizable emotion that made chills run down my spine in a continuous loop. It ended up being Abraham's car pulling into the driveway that broke our locked gazes.

Judging by the man's smile as he got out of his car, I knew Rachel hadn't told her dads' anything yet and I barely resisted the urge to flee, 'cause it was bad enough already that Rach was pissed at me (rightfully so and all) but having Abraham angry too, would probably result in my death in the near future – I mean, the dude was usually my biggest supporter, but even he wouldn't stand for me hurting his little girl.

Since I had a little girl myself, I respected that viewpoint, but still…the dude was big as hell and was probably one of the few people who could actually kick my ass if he wanted to.

"Hey Son," he greeted, not noticing my flinch 'cause his dark eyes zoomed in on the bandaged hand that I was halfway hiding and I had to tell him some crap about tripping and falling through some glass to break my fall.

He was sympathetic and quickly whisked me past Rachel to the kitchen where Hiram was standing with a big smile of greeting that quickly turned into his usual mother hen mode at the sight of my hand and the two of them spent the rest of the evening trying to make me feel better, seemingly not taking in at all that Rach and I hadn't spoken one word to each other since I'd gotten back.

The evening flew by and I dreaded the moment where I had to follow my (I hoped at least) girlfriend up to bed and would have to jump into some explanations and pleading apologies. Fortunately, some of my attention went to Caroline, who was being a bit more fussy than she usually was, actually almost moaning when I picked her up, but even she succumbed to her exhaustion eventually and after putting her to bed, I walked up our bedroom like a dude on his way to his execution.

Only to be shocked at the sight of Rach cleaning up the bed from several of crumpled up pieces of paper. "I finished the song," she declared, a hint of pride behind her words and I dumbly congratulated her, feeling like I'd stepped into the fucking twilight zone.

We got ready for bed and I didn't know what to do with myself. I damn near squealed like a little girl, when Rachel unceremoniously slung her legs over mine and whispered softly, "I know you didn't mean it, Noah. I was hurt initially and shocked as well, but after having gone over everything in my head, I now understand that you had to react to the tumult of your life somehow and I just ended up being in the wrong place in the wrong time…Also, I wish you'd stop acting out so much when you're feeling emotional – you have very lovely hands and they don't deserve such treatment from you."

Dumbfounded, gobsmacked or whatever the word was, it still couldn't describe my feelings right then, so I just embraced the tiny woman at my side, thanking her softly and quietly told her all of what had happened between Ma and me before we drifted off to sleep.

0o0o0

The next day was the day of our Regional's Competition and I can't believe I forgot that even for a second. I mean, Rachel Berry is the woman I love, remember?

From the get go, she was energetic and full of confidence of our impending victory, saying over and over that her song was brilliant and that she'd sent the chords to Brad, the piano guy last afternoon after finishing them, and she promised me –like it was important to me – that we'd get plenty of opportunity to run over the new song and get it right. She smirked a little at those last three words, something I didn't quite get until I heard the title of the song.

Her joy dimmed a little though when I came out of the nursery with an obviously feverish Caroline that didn't seem willing to wake up completely. Immediately, she started spewing some bull about staying home. I saw the clear disappointment in her eyes, so I turned to Hiram, who wasn't working that day and asked if he thought he could handle a sick kid while we were away for the competition.

"Of course," Hiram quickly agreed, having seen the same slight reluctance in Rachel that I had and didn't want her to give up what she'd waited to eagerly for.

It took some convincing, but eventually I dragged Rach out the door, ignoring the part of myself that really didn't want to leave Caroline behind when she was getting sick and off we went to Regional's.

The initial greeting that I got when I showed up with Rach was cool at best. Damn, for some kids that never really knew if the liked or despised my girl, they sure were protective of her, I thought with a gulp (it was a manly gulp, so shut up.).

Fortunately, Rachel's competition mode, quickly transformed the glares into pleading looks, 'cause apparently, I was the only one who thought that she was cute when she got like this. The others – even Quinn – looked ready to throw her out of the bus as we rehearsed her admittedly awesome song for the billionth time in a row.

The singing and performing itself went off without a hitch; I was fucking thrilled 'cause this was the first time I'd ever really been to a competition with Rachel not being rightfully angry or hurt by me.

Kurt and his friend, Blaine even congratulated us on our win once the hysteria from Coach Sylvester's unexpected reaction to losing to us had died out. I noticed that Blaine looked rather gloomily over at Kurt from time to time, but he didn't seem to realize it, busy as he was whispering with Rachel and Mercedes.

I, being my usual diplomatic self, asked the overly hair gelled guy just what his problem was and he actually told me he was crushing on Beyonce, but that he'd sort of turned him down since he himself were going through some complicated feelings for another.

I smirked internally at that, reminding myself to give Dave a call or a text as soon as I could, 'cause I had a pretty strong feeling who Kurt was talking about. I forgot it a moment later, when Rachel wrapped herself around me and kissed the hell out of me in her own joy.

All in all, it was a pretty kickass time and I didn't really want it to end and Mr. Shue seemed to share my feelings, 'cause he gathered us all and took us out to eat before we'd crash in the hotel and head home the next morning. Hell, he even got permission to get Kurt to join us from his rarely seen Warbler coach.

It was pretty nice and I was on such a high that I didn't hear my cell phone. It was only when I remembered I had to send a message to Dave about Kurt's hints that I realized that I had about 23 missed calls in the last hour.

An icy feeling crept over me and I quickly turned to my left and shouted down the table to Rachel, who was sitting between a smiling Quinn and a giggling Mercedes, to check her phone. Frowning at my tone, she did as asked and turned wide eyes at me – I guess she too had a lot of missed calls.

Just as I was about to see who'd called and return their call, the phone in my hand rang again and I quickly picked up when I saw Hiram's name blinking out at me.

"Hello?"

"Noah? Oh thank heavens," Hiram's voice was hoarse and frantic, like he'd screamed or cried for ages and I felt the telltale feeling of doom wash over me again.

"What's wrong with her?" I didn't doubt that he was calling about Caroline. At my words, people around me hushed so Rachel could listen in and I didn't even realize I'd dropped the phone before Mr. Shue handed it to Rachel and her cry of miserable disbelief echoed through the restaurant. No, all I heard was Hiram's voice repeating the same sentence over and over again in my head.

"She got worse and I took her to the doctor; she's got meningitis Noah and it's not looking good."

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FORTYFIVE

To this day I still haven't got a fucking clue how I managed to get to the hospital without either killing myself or someone else in traffic; all I could process at the moment was the fact that Caroline, my little baby girl was dangerously ill.

Okay, sure, I didn't really have a clue about what meningitis was exactly, aside from the fact that it'd been one of the diseases that my elementary school had taken deathly serious. The memory of one of my first ever friends, Craig tricked into my dazed mind as I weaved in and out of the traffic in Mr. Shue's car with a weeping Rachel sitting quietly by my side and as many of the other Gleeks crammed into the vehicle as was humanly possible.

He'd been my first friend and the only one, whose home life seemed to be more shitty than my own so our connecting had been inevitable and then one day he just hadn't come to school and our somber faced teacher had explained that he'd gone up to heaven. It was only later, I found out he'd gotten meningitis and I had to force myself not to substitute Craig's dark skinned face with my daughter's.

When I got to the hospital, I parked haphazardly and all but ran into the building with Rachel right next to me. Not for the first time, I had to appreciate the fact that she never lost her voice, 'cause I couldn't make my own work to ask for Caroline's information.

Next thing I knew, a sympathetic looking nurse was leading us to the right place and Hiram's body blocked my view of anything else as he proceeded to squeeze the life out of us. Then he launched into more a detailed description of Caroline's illness than he'd gotten a chance to do on the phone.

Rachel was listening religiously, but even as I tried to focus, I only managed to absorb a few words every now again, like, "rash," and "spiked a fewer," and "doctors don't think it's the viral one," whatever that meant.

So I just stood there with baited breath, allowing Rach to get whatever little comfort her knowing every miniscule detail could give her and waited for some fucking answers.

Time went by as it usually does, even in times like this, and I couldn't tell you what happened during that wait to be honest. Everything blurred into one essential thing; my daughter had to live. If… no, I shook off the terrifying thought and wrapped an arm around Rachel when she leaned close to me.

Finally, a doctor came out to meet with us and I immediately stood up, almost knocking Rachel off her seat in my haste, but she didn't seem to mind seeing as she was staring just as fixedly at the approaching doctor as I was.

"Are you the parents?" His voice was rough and deep, but his eyes had a soft gleam in them that would've set my mind at ease if my kid hadn't been so fucking sick. We nodded in tandem and he launched into a speech that was so full of medical jargon that for the first time I hated my lack of studying in the past. I needed, no I had to understand what the guy was talking about, so I brusquely interrupted him and told him to speak so I could understand what the hell he was saying.

Instead of looking annoyed at my outburst, the doctor looked like he'd heard it a million times before, so he just nodded with a small smile and tried again. "There are basically two types of meningitis. Long story short, your daughter's got the bad one. It was touch and go for a while; her being sick was discovered rather late in this particular case. We performed a spinal tap to be sure and she's getting some antibiotics now that we all hope will help matters and-"

I drifted off again as his jargon crept back in to the conversation, happy that Rachel seemed to understand it all. She glanced at me with narrowed eyes once or twice, but I didn't really get what she was portraying. If I had to guess, I'd say she was angry, but I couldn't see what she was mad at me for.

The doctor nodded at me and brought me back to the present when he turned to leave. I looked at Rach, "when can we see her?"

Rachel crossed her arms, massaging her arms with her hands once or twice before answering me coolly, "The doctor told us he'd send a nurse for us once it was the appropriate time."

And that was that really. We sat back down, and sometime during the night the Gleeks slowly disappeared and left my family alone to wonder if that little girl that we all loved more than life itself would pull through.

Being the masochistic son of a bitch that I am, I pulled out my phone and googled meningitis for information on what to expect. Five minutes later, I bolted from my chair and ran to the nearest trashcan and emptied my stomach violently into it, not caring that I wasn't exactly the picture of badassness in that moment.

I finally understood just how sick my kid really was and the thought of all the complications that could pop up and harm her tiny body made me so sick that I continued to heave roughly into the now foul smelling trashcan.

"Fuck," I muttered, wiping my mouth with my sleeve inelegantly.

I got back up and walked over to the small table that sat in the waiting room, which held a can of stale water and some plastic cups. I let the water swivel around in my mouth before spitting it out in the soiled trashcan. I didn't envy the person that had to clean that; let me tell ya. Then I went and sat back down next to Rachel, who barely reacted to my presence; except for scooting a little bit away. I guess vomit stench doesn't exactly inspire affection.

I brushed off the small part of me that wondered why Rach hadn't even asked if I was okay, understanding that Caroline was on the forefront of her mind, as it should be. Still, she had pulled away from me rather suddenly after the doctor had spoken with us…

0o0o0

It was four long ass days later, when I finally had enough and confronted Rachel about her odd distancing from me; I'd let her small glares go, but after we'd finished talking to another doctor, that warned us that Caroline might end up with deteriorating sight, or at worst wind up going completely blind from her illness, that I just had enough of her weird behavior.

She'd glared violently at me and turned to go back into the room where Caroline was currently being kept that I reached out and took a gentle hold of her shoulder.

In the next second, she'd brusquely shaken my hand off of her and hissed, "Don't touch me."

"Okay," I threw my hands up in the air and then gritted my teeth so much that I think my dentist would kick me ass for ruining them, "what the fuck is going on with you, Rach?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and nodded with her chin to the door behind her, "I'm focused on my child, Noah as should you be. So-"

"No," I growled and stepped closer, "you don't get to play that card, Rachel. I'm fucking terrified that that kid in there won't pull through or wind up blind or whatever, but I ain't talking about that! I'm talking about you being a total ice queen these last few days towards me. In case you didn't know, I didn't make her sick."

Rachel's eyes narrowed as she looked at me with something close to contempt and she damn near broke me to pieces when she sneered viciously, "If I hadn't been so distracted over yet another one of your emotional displays, I would've caught Caroline's illness sooner and I damn sure wouldn't have let you drag me to Regionals. You're always distracting me from being a good mother, doing stuff that hurts me like with Santana and that stupid kiss and so many other things. This is all your fault!"

The pain from the slap that she ended her tirade with was nothing compared to the one exploding inside of me, 'cause every word she said resonated within me. Rachel was right, it was sort of my fault…

Another slap on the other cheek burned my skin, but I just stood there numbly as Rachel cried, her fatigue forgotten in her rage. She raised her hand again, but before it could connect, another form stepped in-between us and pushed her away from me.

"Get your hands off of my boy!"

It was like I was watching things in slow motion; my mother stood protectively in front of me, scowling ferociously down at an equally rage filled Rachel. The scene was a weird déjà-vu to the night Caroline had been born – only this time the two women's roles were reversed.

Ma was pale and had two big red splotches on her cheeks, signaling her anger; a sign I'd used to look out for as a little kid, and I would've warned Rachel if I hadn't been so fucking cold all of the sudden.

Unable to process anything else, I turned around and left even as orderlies and other nurses came to see what was happening. The guilt damn near choking me the farther away from my sick child I got. I found myself in the cafeteria some time later, nursing a cold cup of thin coffee that I didn't remember buying.

I was just so numb, but I didn't mind, 'cause it sure as hell beat the alternative. After I'd gotten two texts from Rachel to come back, I stood back up and did as she asked all the while wondering why she didn't just tell me to get the hell away before I ended up bringing about another disaster.

0o0o0

Thankfully shortly after that incident, Caroline got better and returned home and things moved on like they usually do.

She was a little thinner and the doctors were almost sure that her vision had suffered some from the illness, but I didn't care if she wound up blind as a bat as long as my little girl was safe and sound. So far it seemed that all we had to worry about were some glasses and that'd be the end of that fortunately.

There was an awkwardness between Rachel and I of course; I mean, she had unloaded a lot of crap on me in that waiting room and I was hurt and trying to respect her wishes by staying as far away from her as possible at the same time, 'cause I couldn't say that she'd stated anything that wasn't true.

The only thing I didn't do was sleep somewhere else; we'd promised each other numerous times never to sleep apart after all. That didn't mean I didn't stay up way past my usual bedtime and let Rachel get ready and fall asleep before I even thought about heading to bed myself.

Instead, I began spending a lot of my time with my daughter, eying her intently whenever I could get away with it – and since I was her dad, I could get away with it quite a lot.

We also returned to school and it was uncomfortable as hell sitting in my truck in silence as I drove towards McKinley that first day. Thank fuck that I had enough excuses about practice and shit so I could legitimize asking Rachel to get a ride home from someone else or get one of her dads' to pick her up instead of going through that hell too many times. Her lack of protest told me she was still majorly pissed at me and blamed me as much as she ever did; she was just a lot less vocal about it than before.

So, I decided to respect her untold wishes and stopped going to Glee. I mean, we'd won Regionals and I'd never been a solo singer in the club, so I very much doubted I'd be missed at Nationals. That way, I reasoned internally, Rachel didn't have to worry about leaving Caroline behind, 'cause I'd be there watching her like a fucking hawk and I'd take her to the doctor if she even as much as sneezed in the future, that's for sure.

Anyway, from what I could gather from Sam, who'd actually been the only one to seek me out in school and ask me why the fuck I wasn't in glee anymore, there was a lot of shit going on these days. I guess that's why Rachel hadn't reacted all that much to me quitting The New Directions. I don't know what I'd expected to be frank, a thank you perhaps? I mean, I got out of her way so she could have fun with her dreams.

Well, I shook my conflicted feelings about everything out of my head and went over what Sam had told me, once he'd finally stopped badgering me about returning. Apparently, Brittany was smarter than we all thought and –along with Mike and Artie – was a part of some smart people competition and they all needed money. Long story short; everyone was busy preparing some sort of charity event.

Fuck if I cared, I just kept my head down, went to class and spent my free time with Caroline. When Rachel didn't beat me to it, I mean.

A few weeks after Caroline's release from the hospital, I was sitting in her room, with her chubby little body in my arms as she slumbered safely with her head cocooned in the crook of my neck. I was humming softly and trying to figure out how to tell Sam he should worry about his own damn self, maybe get a fucking haircut and some cooler clothes, next time he came around, hounding me to get back to glee club.

A sound caught my attention and I looked up slowly, so I didn't wake my daughter and locked eyes with Rachel. I immediately looked away, 'cause for some reason I'd had real fucking difficulty with meeting her gaze since she'd said all those things to me. I don't know why, it just kindda fucking hurt to look at her these days.

She made a strangled sound, so I figured she felt the same way. I didn't give her a chance to say much of anything or you know, tell me to get the fuck out before she said something else, instead I just got up and carefully handed her Caroline.

"She was wiped out when I got home, so it took me a while to get her sleeping. She's been napping for about thirty minutes now, so she'll probably be a little fussy, sorry. I'm gonna go for a run, so…err, enjoy your alone time." I nodded to Rachel without really looking at her and ran upstairs to change my clothes.

I ran so fast that I could probably have been on some kind of Olympic team, but I didn't notice until I speeded past Sam, who was out walking with his two siblings. The look of something less than sunny on his face caught my attention and I slowed down to go talk to him.

Only to pitch forward in the next moment, trying desperately to catch my breath. I looked at my watch and would've cursed if I'd had enough air; I'd been running way longer than I usually did.

"Hey, Puck," Sam's voice reached my ears, drowning out my hearts frantic pounding. "You okay, Man?"

"Yeah, just ran too much," I managed to get out a few seconds later. "What are you doing here?" I glanced over at his smaller siblings, who looked up at me with equal parts of mistrust and curiosity. They had that same shaggy look about them that Sam did; maybe it was genetic?

Sam ran a hand through his disheveled blond hair and shrugged. "We just decided to take a walk together. Our parents are working, so I wanted to spend some time with them…The nanny wasn't available." Something about that last part, plus the slightly uncomfortable look in my friend's eyes told me he wasn't exactly telling me the entire truth, but I didn't have it in me to care.

I just nodded and we chatted for a few minutes, before the two younger kids lost their patience and Sam had to continue with their walk. I looked after their disappearing shadows for a while, before turning to run back home.

Only, it didn't really sit right with me to go back already. Another glance at my watch informed me that it was nowhere near the time for Rachel to go to bed and I didn't really fancy being around at another awkward dinner where Hiram chatted amiably while Abraham looked between the two of us with narrow eyed suspicion.

In the end, I sent her a text that I'd gotten hungry and eaten at McDonalds instead. Then I walked around aimlessly for a while until I found myself in front of my old house of all places. That was enough to send a spike of confusion through the fog that had been surrounding me since Rachel's words. What the hell was I even doing here?

I'd run away from there before my body could do something stupid and like… knock on the damn door.

I ended up walking around for several hours, until the cooling sweat in my clothes and on my skin made me feel like nothing short of a fucking bum, so I headed home to take a much needed shower.

When I entered the door silently, it was very late, so I didn't think anyone would be up. The darkness in the house told me I was right, so I walked soundlessly upstairs, already preparing to shower as long as I could so I didn't have to lie next to the girl I loved, and know that she all but hated my guts these days.

To make things worse, I realized a bit too late that Rachel was in fact not asleep, but on the phone. Just before I was about to enter the door, I heard her muffled voice, "…look at me anymore. It hurts. I don't know what to say to him, Quinn."

I froze on the doorstep and had already decided to turn around to shower in the bathroom downstairs, cold tiles be damned, when she looked up and noticed me there. "I have to go, Quinn," she whispered and ended the call.

"Hello Noah," she greeted me softly, still looking at me. Her earlier words burned me, 'cause hadn't she just said she couldn't stand to look at me anymore?

I looked away instead and unceremoniously grabbed a pair of clean boxers and a pair of pajamas pants. "Didn't mean to disturb," I muttered, almost out of the door before she could say anything.

"Noah, wait," Rachel started, and as always, my body seemed to have a life of its own when it came to her ordering me around, so I did stop on the threshold and turned my head in her direction.

"I'm sorry," she eventually said quietly and from the tone, I knew she was talking about more than me overhearing her chat with Quinn just now. I didn't understand why she was saying sorry and I told her that without looking at her, then I added calmly, forcing myself to look her in the eyes for a short moment.

"You didn't say anything that wasn't true. Now go to sleep, I'll be up after my shower." I managed a half-hearted smile before I fled downstairs where I proceeded to shower for so long that the water turned ice cold and painful on my already abused skin. But I welcomed it, 'cause it still felt better than knowing the woman I was still so fucking in love with couldn't bear to look at me without getting angry.

When I finally made my way back upstairs to our room, I had succeeded in my goal of waiting till Rachel was sleeping before joining her. She was lying above the covers with a frown marring her face, almost as if she'd waited for me as long as she could.

Now that I looked closer, I realized that Rachel looked damn near exhausted, almost worn out. She had dark circles under her eyes and her skin had a tint of grey as if she too hadn't been sleeping all that well. I sighed and placed the covers over her and kissed her forehead softly, hoping I didn't wake her in the process.

"Noah…" my name escaped her lips gently and her sleeping face lit up into a small, contented smile that I didn't really understand. Shaking my head a bit, I got down beside her and stared at her until my eyes turned heavy and I fell into a peaceful sleep for the first time in weeks.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FORTYSIX

The whole tension deal between me and Rachel ended rather abruptly to be completely honest. I mean, I was still distancing myself from her and I still didn't go to the choir room at all.

Hell, I barely managed to acknowledge those glee club members who were on the football team anymore.

That said, I guess I'd been a little too considerate and shit, 'cause one evening, I'd sneaked into bed, convinced that Rachel was firmly asleep, when all of the sudden, she swung one of her smooth legs over mine and sat on top of me.

And as if that wasn't enough, she took hold of my face and kept it immobile, staring straight into my eyes.

"Noah Puckerman; we need to talk and I'd appreciate that you do not go perform one of your acts of vanishing, which you've been so prone to do lately. I need to talk and you need to listen." She jumped ahead before I could much of anything really, launching into such a speech that I kindda feared for her life, 'cause she didn't seem to breathe once.

"I said some horrendous things to you that were not true. I acted out of fear and guilt. I had no right to say such things, let alone resort to psychical violence as well upon your person – especially given your past history. I admit I acted poorly and I've been trying to apologize since…well, since the day we got Caroline back home safely. Contrary to my earlier statement and your own beliefs; you're not at fault for anything in regards to our child's sudden spout of illness. I shouldn't have brought up Santana or any of the other episodes that we've gone through. It's perfectly natural to act emotionally when stressed, so I do forgive you completely for the whole Hannah reaction – and despite appearances, I also have no lingering anger towards you when it comes to Santana or even Quinn for that matter; it was my own insecurities that took over in a moment of weakness and I sincerely apologize. Now, stop avoiding me and get back to being the Noah that I love and not this husk of a man!"

I just lied there, immobile for a long time, for once able to meet her eyes without the surge of guilt and stuff attacking me from the inside. Finally, when she raised a brow I realized that she was expecting some kind of answer.

"Practiced that in front of the mirror, didn't you?" was all I managed and Rachel rolled her eyes at me.

"For your information, Noah, I wrote several key points down during a session with my therapist, who recommended that we go see her by the way some time in the near future to get an open and honest conversation going. I couldn't wait that long and decided to get your attention in this slightly unconventional manner."

It was like her words had erased a lot of my gloom, so I found myself smirking for the first time in God knows how long and placed my hands on top of hers, which were still all but glued to my face.

"I'm glad you did, Rach. For what it's worth, I need you to know that while I've screwed up pretty much any chance I got in our relationship; I still wouldn't want to go back to my old life. I'm in love with you and it's okay for you to feel angry at me for everything with Caroline and Hannah and Santana and-"

Rachel shook her head roughly and leaned forward, unintentionally giving me quite the look at the lady berries, if you know what I mean.

"Didn't you listen? What happened to our daughter has got nothing to do with you; I merely acted impulsively and immaturely due to so much repressed emotion and…well, I don't care how much time we have to spend in this position before you finally understand that."

"Well, Rach," I murmured, taking my hands to other more intimate places, "gotta say, you sitting right there ain't exactly a hardship on me."

Rachel grinned and leaned closer, keeping her luscious lips only an inch from mine, "You do know I like to make things awfully hard on you, Noah."

"Bring t on, Babe," I whispered, suddenly desperate to throw her under me and plunge into her with everything I had, 'cause, damn it had been a while.

And as she smiled and met my lips in a kiss that pretty much told me we were on the same page for the first time in a long time, I knew we weren't one hundred percent okay again, but we'd taken a big step now and then I didn't really think that much about anything anymore as Rach's small, warm hand went under my boxers and grabbed my now almost aching for release dick.

0o0o0

The things between Rach and I slowly mended itself and we once more lived up to the whole 'making up after fighting'-sex scenario. I wasn't complaining, but truth be told, I was having trouble walking straight after an intense week of almost no sleep and a hell of a lot of sex.

Anyway, back to my point; Rach and I had been keeping our reconciliation completely under wraps and as such I hadn't returned to glee club yet. It was something we didn't discuss until something happened that brought back my very overprotective instincts in regards to Rachel.

I was picking Rachel up from glee, deciding that we should finally let people know we were okay again (how they hadn't guessed it from all the non so covert smug grins and goofy looks we were sending each other, plus…you know, the somewhat discreet groping now and again, I'll never know).

I'd been putting it off, 'cause I –and Rachel too for that matter – knew that I'd be glared and/or guilted back into the club and although I missed it, I didn't think I was ready to let other people's opinion into our lives again. I mean, I never really got why they were always so hot and cold to Rachel and I, one minute we're awesome and can do nothing wrong and the next, they're acting like we're some of those people whose limbs and shit falls off; leprechauns or something.

Well, I was deep into my thoughts as I snuck into the auditorium, smiling absentmindedly as I watched the gang stumble more or less elegantly through a dance rehearsal. Then, in the next second, I was brought completely back into the present when I heard a familiar voice scream out in pain.

I was halfway up the stage and had pushed several people aside, growling at them to move with none of my usual politeness. Rachel was on the floor, clutching her bleeding nose with something akin to despair; Finn was sitting awkwardly next to her, looking guilty as fuck as Quinn tried to calm my crying girlfriend down.

For once, Mr. Shue acted with authority and had almost succeeded in calming everyone down to a manageable level, but then, Rachel's closed eyes opened a fraction and she caught sight of me and let's just say that the Watergates really opened after that. She slung herself into my arms, sobbing something about horrendous disfigurement and despair and I sent death glares to Finn, who looked more and more sorry by the second.

Next thing I know, we're at the hospital again and Rachel is silently taking in the fact that she's gonna have a nose job to correct the tiny little bump that her injury happened to provide.

Finn was standing with Quinn a little bit in front of him, probably not entirely sure I wasn't gonna kick his ass, now that the witnesses had diminished quite a bit. I thought about it, I gotta admit that, but then again, the dude really was a danger when he added dancing to his robotic movements and we all knew that going into any kind of dance where he'd participate.

So, I wouldn't beat the snot out of him, but I wasn't gonna tell him that, 'cause I enjoyed watching him sweat a little bit, to be honest.

Anyway, Rachel had been talking quietly with Quinn and I looked back over at them with a frown, when I heard Quinn protest to something pretty harshly. Then she looked at me and explained, "Rachel wants my nose all of the sudden. She wanted to know if she could model her new nose after mine."

To quote a certain girl from glee club, Hell to the no! I immediately sought out Rachel's eyes, for the moment ignoring the black eyes she was sporting. "You are gonna knock that thought out of your head completely, Babe."

Rachel looked slightly sheepish; I guess she hadn't counted on my reaction. "But Noah, it's-"

"Nope," I interrupted, gently cupping her face, "I love your nose. I love everything about you, Rachel – don't ruin your perfect face with an ugly ass non Yentl nose. No offence," I threw over my shoulder when I heard the strangled hiss of protest coming from Quinn.

Rachel smiled a little, and it made all the pussy comments worthwhile when she asked softly, "you really like my nose?"

"I love your nose!" Again, the part of me that wanted to prove I still had a dick, had to be forced down a little as I continued convincing my girl that I totally digged her looks.

In the end, Rachel said she'd think about it and I knew I'd won, 'cause she looked so fucking happy despite all of her obvious injuries as I let her out to the waiting glee club in the waiting room that I found myself hating ever since the scare with Caroline.

0o0o0

What I hadn't counted on, was the fact that Finn had told Kurt about the nose job, supposedly forgetting to let everyone know that Rach wasn't gonna copy Quinn's tiny ass nose and then things spiraled a bit out of control, 'cause of course Beyonce just had to tell Mercedes and we all know the mouth on that one, don't we?

Before I knew it, I'd been forced back into glee club by not only the other members, but by my own irrational protectiveness that just had to be close to Rachel, so she wouldn't get hurt again. I mean, there really was a lot of dancing going around in preparation for Nationals.

And then on top of everything, Mr. Shue chose to make yet another one of his life lessons out of something Rachel did and we all had to get some T-shirts and write one of our insecurities about ourselves on them.

Kurt was prancing around, citing that he was perfect so…oh, wait; I forgot to mention that, didn't I? Guess, who'd decided to return to McKinley?

He'd re-enrolled just after Rach's accident and Blaine had even showed up with his choir boys to perform. Of course, his performance got positive responses from my fellow students and I tried not recalling the time we'd performed in the quad and practically no one had reacted. Bunch of superficial assholes…

Anyway, I noticed the longing looks that Blaine sent to a clearly uncomfortable Kurt, and figured that was one of the main reasons why he'd chosen to return; I mean, Dave was no longer a complete ass so it'd be safe for him to return – save for the usual slushies that none of us completely avoided these days.

Sure, Azimio and Dave had taken over where I'd left off and others were now ready to take over for them as well. I was still pretty surprised at the fact that Azimio had been tamed by that tiny little broad, Sunshine. The dude looked so lovesick these days, it was practically nauseating. I'd never looked like that (shut up, I hadn't – I always look manly no matter how love struck I am.)

Santana had her own troubles and I had my suspicions about the looks she was sending Brittany and Wheels, but decided that, for the sake of my newly repaired relationship, I'd stay the hell out of that bag of crazy. She'd been a total bitch after it had gotten out that Rach had to have plastic surgery. So, all in all, things were just as dramatic and weird as they'd always been in glee club and I honestly couldn't say if I was happy to be back on the team or just…I don't know, tired.

I mean just how much drama and shit can one club undergo before it breaks apart completely?

I was so focused on not really involving myself into more soap opera moments, that I sought out the auditorium for privacy to finish my ridiculous T-shirt for the Lady Gaga performance we were rehearsing for despite Nationals being right around the corner. Also the seats were a lot more comfortable than the hard ones in the choir room where the other Gleeks were sitting.

I was so engrossed in trying to figure out what the hell I was gonna write on the damn fabric that I didn't notice someone else entering the room before I heard their voices.

As soon as I recognized Dave and Kurt's voices, I immediately slunk down as far as I could, cursing inwardly at my luck. It was like these situations just waited to arise until I couldn't escape. I quietly gathered my things and prayed that they wouldn't notice me, but then again, they seemed so focused on each other that I doubt they'd realize I was there unless I stood up and announced myself.

"…to you, 'cause I didn't mean to cause you problems." Dave's voice reached my ears as I desperately tried not to listen in on an obviously private conversation.

I could vaguely see their forms through the spaces between the seats and saw Kurt run a hand through his usually so impeccable hair. "I know; being in the closet is hard. I just felt so scared after your threats that I had to get away. Then, Rachel's party with the kiss happened and…" his voice trailed off and images of said party assaulted my mind.

Their public kiss had been full of passion and something else, but I guess my alcohol impaired brain hadn't really noticed it until now; chemistry.

"I'm sorry about that too," Dave murmured, "I didn't mean to get you into trouble with that boyfriend of yours. That's one of the reasons I wrote you on Facebook…"

"Blaine is…" Kurt hesitated before continuing softly, "We are very good friends and I can't deny that I have feelings for him, but…"

"But?" Dave sounded hopeful and I gotta admit that I was silently rooting for the guy. He might have been a total idiot in regards to the whole being into dudes' thing, but that didn't mean he didn't deserve to be happy. I mean, look at me; I'd been the number one asshole in McKinley and I ended up with Rachel. Good things do happen to bad people occasionally.

Kurt's voice interrupted my musings and I damn near held my breath like a little fan girl watching that sparkling vampire and that broody chick movie that Rachel didn't want to admit to secretly obsessing over.

"…I have these conflicting feelings for someone else as well and…Well, he's – despite everything – the boy I want to try being with. Given," here Kurt's smaller form straightened up and I imagine he was sending the mother of all glares to the bigger foot ballplayer, "he's willing to be with me publically and ignore those homophobic hooligans that this school and town have amongst them."

"He is," Dave didn't even hesitate and I sent out a mental fist bump to the guy. Then things got a little bit more uncomfortable for me, 'cause a moment later, the two of them met in a small, almost cautious kiss that had nothing to do with the major kissing they'd done in Rachel's basement and yet, it was still just as intense, if one knew what to look for. And, with me being the Puckerone, I definitely knew what to look for.

After a minute or so, I decided to act. I began crawling along the seats towards the nearest exit, hoping to remain undiscovered, but then – since it's me and I'm just not the lucky type of guy in these situations – my cell phone began ringing, proclaiming my presence.

"Who the fuck's there?" Dave sounded almost fearful and I couldn't blame the dude; he was probably worried that the whole deal about him going public as gay student number two had just been fast forwarded in a rather unexpected way.

I privately promised myself to look up Jacob, to check if he'd been around, 'cause that little cockroach seemed to always be around whenever these kinds of things happened.

Then, when Dave called out again, sounding more pissed than before, I sighed heavily. Seeing no other option but to stand up, if nothing else, to spare the guy from an early heart attack, I did just that, waving sheepishly at their two frozen forms.

"Hey guys…Err…" I shrugged before running a hand through my 'hawk. "I didn't mean to snoop, so I'll just be going and you can go back to being gay over each other in peace…err…Congrats by the way and…bye."

I'd exited the room quicker than should be possible and then I sought out the choir room where Rachel was waiting for me; her finished T-shirt in her hands.

"There you are, Noah," she smiled widely, holding up her shirt. "I hope you finished your product as well, since I must say I'm feeling completely invigorated ever since my talk with you and Quinn. Also, I called you a little bit earlier, didn't you hear? I just found out some big news and couldn't wait to share them with you. Did you know she used to look completely different? I mean no disrespect whatsoever, since Quinn is a very lovely young girl, but she showed me a picture of herself from elementary school and I don't think I'm wrong in stating that the poor girl was rather unfortunate looking in comparison to her appearances today. She swore me to secrecy of course, but she knows that I'd have difficulty hiding such a thing from you and allowed me to share my newfound knowledge with you."

I nodded, promising myself to harass Quinn into showing me that picture, 'cause I just had to see that, but then I smirked evilly, since I knew I had the biggest piece of news between the two of us right now.

"Dave and Kurt kindda just hooked up in the auditorium."

The squeal Rach emitted damn near ruptured my poor eardrums and I winced; only to grin widely when she added, jumping up and down like a little girl on speed. "Do you think they'd consider a double date with us?"

Now, I wasn't usually one of those pussies that went on double dates, unless I was pushed into it or had a threesome in mind, but fuck, I just had to agree without a fuss this time, 'cause I couldn't wait to see Dave's face when he realized that he'd be going on one of those damn things with the two biggest divas in Lima.

Oh well, I'd be nice after a little bit of teasing. I mean, it'd be nice to have someone to talk to while Kurt and Rach went off into yet another Broadway inspired debate – at least we'd both suffer while we choked through those meatless salads that they both insisted were ever so wonderful and healthy. But, still, the opportunities to tease Dave were not to be wasted…

"Noah? Why are you looking so sinister all of the sudden? You had better not ruin this for me!"

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FORTYSEVEN

Prancing around with T-shirts with less than cool messages on them soon traveled to the background of my memory 'cause as always, something else took priority and it was something that started so fucking simplistic that it's a wonder we were all so surprised.

Coach Sylvester got a newspaper and started printing shit about all of us. Again, her obsession with defiling the glee club was obvious to anyone who gave a damn, which meant the glee club mostly.

There were written pretty nasty things that I didn't want to bother with to be honest, but gossip usually provoked a response, so of course, it tended to be the most talked about in school, let alone in glee club.

I shared a covert look with Kurt when Santana was suddenly the victim of Coach Sylvester due to something that Brittany had started that involved hot cheese for some reason; I didn't want to know more. Even thought the insane cheerleading coach seemed to favor Kurt from time to time, we both seemed to hold our breath for the issue where she'd out Dave and possibly end up causing so much disaster it couldn't be contained.

I shivered a bit internally as the memory of the broken Dave, who'd spent a few nights at our house trickled into my mind; I had no doubt that if he was outed as gay before he was fully ready and had a big support system behind him, he'd react…well, let's just say less favorably and I doubt that he'd be able to keep his relationship with Kurt and that'd be a damn shame, since they'd both been walking around with big goofy grins and sly looks since that day in the auditorium.

Hell, I'd even succumbed to a private double date at home with Rachel and Kurt doing just as I'd predicted and me choking down a salad and teasing a blushing Dave. It'd been surprisingly fun.

Anyway, the point is, the headlines in that paper of Coach Sylvester's were mostly a fucking joke, but it did its purpose and raised a lot of hell amongst everybody. Especially between Quinn and Finn and Sam.

I mean, we all knew – at least those of us with eyes, that Sam had been crushing on Quinn pretty deeply since coming to McKinley, but he'd never acted on it and hidden it all away after Quinn went back to Finn and I couldn't help but respect the dude for it, 'cause letting the girl you cared about be happy with someone else was hard. I doubt I could pull it off.

So I looked as incredulous as Sam when Finn stormed into the choir room, holding that damned excuse of a newspaper in his hands, and accusing him of secret rendezvous'' with Quinn.

He didn't seem to listen when she reminded him that she'd spent the night with him and that it'd be impossible to be two places at once, Finn was simply too enraged and ready for action towards Sam. Since the latter had become pretty much one of my best buds lately, I couldn't have that and interfered.

"Dude," I walked in-between Finn, who was using his height to tower over Sam, but I wasn't having any of that shit on my watch. "Back off, before I make you."

Finn looked down at me, blinked as he seemed to realize that I wasn't kidding and finally backed away with one last glare. Quinn continued hissing about the impossibility of being with Sam and I turned to look at the male blond as everyone got busy reading the article that had set Finn off so much.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Sam grimaced and ran a hand through that excessively shaggy hair of his and sat down with a scowl on his face. He looked tired and worn out and I realized not entirely for the first time that he'd been looking more and more like this since…well, for a long time and decided to be as good a friend to him as he was to me.

"Something up, Sammy?"

Sam looked startled at my question, but a second later, his face blanked as if he was methodically wiping off any kind of emotion and I recognized that look; hell, I'd invented that look when my first school appointed shrink had tried to analyze me…good thing I'd managed to make out with her so I could force her to stop asking stupid questions.

Anyway, back to my point; Sam was keeping secrets and wasn't planning on sharing.

"Don't tell me if you think it's none of my business," I murmured as Finn's hissy fit seemed to tone down a bit and he was now busy trying to apologize to a seriously ticked off looking Quinn. "But whatever it is, I wanna help if I can, don't forget that."

"Really?" Sam seemed like I was talking a foreign language, but he seemed oddly grateful when I nodded in conformation to his question. "Thanks…I might take you up on that some time, but I don't want anybody else knowing about my private business though.

Mr. Shue walked in and waved around one of his old people's music LP's and started talking enthusiastically so I didn't interrogate Sam like I wanted but I promised myself to keep an eye out for him, just in case.

0o0o0

After some probing glances and muttered promises of silent support, Sam eventually told me what was going on with him; it sucked monkey balls for the guy. No wonder he was so fucking tired and worn looking these days. He was broke and living in a shady motel of all places.

Evidently, it was the same crappy motel that I'd met him in back when Rach and I had one of our major fights. So much shit going on in his own life and he still had had the energy to try and help me out back then – that did it for me; Sam was for all eternity a Bro, hell, he might even tip Finn off the stage, 'cause it was no secret that Finn and I hadn't really been as close as we once were for a long time.

Well, Sam's position on my Bro's list aside, I was determined to help him and immediately began sorting through some of my stuff; a few veiled questions at Rachel's dads had me going through their old stuff as well. For two middle aged gay guys, their style was surprisingly cool and unique. I guess that's why they'd allowed their only child to walk around with animal prints and knee socks and shit.

Don't get me wrong, Rachel's style had grown on me, but I wasn't blind to the fact that most people thought she looked ridiculous from time to time.

I was in the middle of going through Abraham's things, when Rach barged in and demanded to know just what I was doing. Despite my fervent promise not to tell Sam's story to anyone, I'd told her everything within ten minutes; don't judge me until you've lived with a tiny Jewish Mama Bear…

Had I known that telling Rach would result in everyone suddenly hating on Sam and thus forcing him to tell his secret to them all to get their gossipy minds to shut the hell up, I might have lasted twenty minutes.

No, Rach didn't immediately burst in and share her knowledge with glee club; she's not an idiot, nor as eager to bring others down as people tend to give her credit for.

What happened was this; Rachel took it upon herself to help (a.k.a. take over) my attempts at helping out Sam and before I knew it, she'd taken Abraham's car, ordered me to stay home and watch Caroline's attempts at walking with a ready camcorder just in case our kid turned out to be a prodigy or something, and then driven to the motel to cheer Sam up.

She stayed a long while and when she returned, it was with not only Sam in tow, but his two younger siblings and his parents. They all looked a bit shell-shocked and more than a little confused as to what the fuck had happened, but I just smirked and handed a giggling Caroline to her mother and slapped Sam on the shoulder, 'cause I wasn't the least bit surprised that she'd taken it upon herself to fix the Evans' family – if only for one night.

The next day, Rachel got a lift to school from Hiram, while I skipped my first classes so I could watch Caroline, who was getting the sniffles, until the nanny arrived (yeah, big luxury to still have her, but I wasn't about to complain when the daddies Berry insisted!). It was the only time I'd ever gotten a proud smile from Rach about my skipping classes, but I guess, I wasn't the only one completely obsessing over anything illness related when it came to Caroline.

Anyway, happy that the doctor, whom I'd visited on the sly with Caroline, said it was nothing more than a common cold, and a tiny one at that, I handed her over to the babysitter and drove to school three hours late.

When I arrived at McKinley, things were weird. Well, weirder than normal anyhow, 'cause most of the students hanging around were looking at me with pity. Hell, one of the girls I'd screwed over (both literally and figuratively), who'd sworn to never talk to me again without a voodoo priest by her side, walked over to me and padded my arm soothingly, while muttering something about, "hoping I'd get through it."

I soon realized things were even crazier than I thought, 'cause a moment later, I spotted Rachel hurrying along the hallway with a familiar colored iced beverage sliding down her face and everyone – and I mean everyone in the hall – were smiling a bit, even one of the teachers.

I catapulted into action and followed her into the restroom, where I heard one girl finishing an insult just as I entered the room. "…a slut; but since you're a teenage mom, I'm not really surprised."

"Get the fuck out," I growled gutturally, watching with some satisfaction as the girl and her cronies all paled at my unexpected arrival.

A minute later, I was finally alone with my girlfriend, who was shaking violently as she began washing off the slushy. The sight of her fingers moving through her dirty hair and with her bottom lip trembling between her teeth as she seemed to try with everything in her not to react visibly, made me feel guilty for all the times I'd done this kind of thing to her and laughed like a baboon with my so called friends. There was nothing funny about it at all.

"Babe," I began and reached out to help her clean her hair, "who did this to you?"

Rachel sniffed as she continued with her hair, but didn't answer me. I guess I kindda got that, 'cause who else could it be than the usual idiots? Instead of pushing her, I whipped off my outer shirt and handed it to her to borrow, 'cause there was no way she was going back out there wearing a white shirt covered with slushy residue – I mean, I wasn't gonna let anyone but me enjoy that view. Besides, I looked down at myself briefly with an internal smirk of confidence; there was no point in denying that I rocked the black wife-beater look.

The small smile of thanks Rach sent to me, brought me back to the present and I was about to question her a little more insistently, when the door to the restroom banged open and Quinn came barging in, looking wild and more angry than I'd seen in a long time.

Her eyes traveled quickly over us before she turned her head around and hissed to someone on the other side, "Well you don't know anything, so go away you dweeb before I make you regret ever being a sperm cell in your daddy's dingdong!"

Huh, like me, it would seem that Quinn retained some of her badassness from the Ice Queen days. It was nice to see that she could still tear people down if necessary. And if she was defending Rach, it was really fucking necessary in my book.

"What the hell is going on?" I blurted out when Quinn had slammed the door shut and turned to assist Rachel with a lot more competence than I had.

Quinn sent me a look, and then she sighed and answered me as her hands gently massaged the corned ice out of Rachel's hair. "There was another article in the paper and people are now convinced that Rachel is cheating on you with Sam."

Ah, that explained it; I thought and clenched my fists, vowing retribution on those assholes who just couldn't stop messing around in people's lives.

"Noah," Rachel sounded surprisingly like herself as she turned to look seriously at me, "don't do anything rash, please. Things will get back to normal, they always do."

Sighing, I allowed my temper to be cooled, until, a few hours later, Rach was saying the same thing again and again in my ear as some of the Gleeks were glaring at her and Sam and muttering under their breaths.

I didn't need to hear them to know what they were saying weren't exactly nice, so I was working overtime not to explode. I'd been made aware off, since my last storm out that I had some unresolved anger issues and I didn't want to act out anymore. At least, not as much, 'cause let me tell ya, I was so fucking close to grabbing Brittany and shaking some much needed sense into her.

Anyway, I had had enough and stood up to force them all to listen to me. I was about to tell them all that they were fucking idiots and their pettiness was stupid and they shouldn't give a shit anyhow, since they usually hated my guts.

I didn't get a chance to do more than curse as an intro, before Sam suddenly stood up himself, sending a glare of such epic proportions Santana's way that I was kindda proud of him. She almost cowered and everything.

"I didn't screw Rachel," his words brought my temper right back to the forefront of my mind and I quickly promised to chat a little with the catty Latina. "I didn't stab Puck in the back and I'm not Caroline's father, so just stop it!"

His eyes travelled to the other Gleeks as he finished in a shout. Instead of looking chastened, most of them were just rolling their eyes, clearly not believing a word the guy was saying. Rachel's hiss next to me surprised me a bit, 'cause honestly, she rarely lost her temper in these matters; too used to being blamed for everything I guess, but this time she looked genuinely pissed.

"Look my fellow glee clubbers," her voice was cool as ice and the tone seemed to get through to people more securely than any of the earlier shouting had done. "Sam has personal problems that strictly speaking don't concern any of us and I will no longer put up with your blatant bullying. If neither of you mind your own business nor respect the fact that Sam and I are not an item and that he's most assuredly not the father of my child since he wasn't even a resident of Lima when she was conceived, I will resign from glee club effecting immediately."

The last words shocked the hell out of, not only me, but everyone in the room. I swear Mr. Shue looked ready to prevent her from leaving his presence psychically. I immediately stepped closer to her, just in case he acted on it.

"R-Rachel…" Kurt began, his eyes darting between us all in the sudden silence.

"If Rachel goes, I go," I stated, raising my chin. "You all treat her like shit most of the time anyways and don't appreciate her."

Some of the Gleeks glanced at each other guiltily until Quinn suddenly rose and said that she was willing to leave as well. Finn quickly followed suit, despite the fact that he'd sent Sam and Rachel glares only minutes earlier. Sunshine looked confused, but eager to believe that her idolized friend wasn't guilty of adultery and murmured that she'd go with Rachel too.

"Don't do this," Sam looked at us with suspiciously bright eyes, his newly cut hair doing nothing to hide his expressions anymore. "We've got Nationals to think about and…not to sound like a cliché or nothing, but can't we all just get along?"

Mr. Shue jumped ahead and took charge on that note, eager to mend some fences between us all. I decided to do what Rachel ended up doing and sat back down again as the club exploded in apologies and fresh beginnings and what not.

Sam's shadow loomed over me a moment later, and I looked up. He was smiling weakly as he took a seat next to me. "Thanks…I mean, for not telling anyone. Anyone but Rachel of course."

I grinned and held out my hand for a fist bump. "No problem Dog, we're buds and buds help each other out from time to time."

Sam matched my grin and nodded as he held out his own fist. "Sure Man." Then he looked a little dubious all of the sudden and leaned closer. "By the way, could you please tell Rachel that I don't need to borrow her Dad's old neon colored suit for prom?"

The other Gleeks looked over at us with confusion – or fond bemusement in Rachel's case – a moment later, when I burst into laughter at the mental picture of Sam wearing that outfit. It really was fucking awful and shouldn't be allowed in public.

Then my laughter was cut off when the girls' caught the word 'prom' and started talking about it like the earlier episode had never happened. I almost gulped like a little pussy when I caught Rachel saying something about getting her Dads' advice to buy our clothes for that night.

This time it was Sam's laughter that invoked confused looks, but I suddenly saw nothing funny about it anymore, 'cause Puckzilla wasn't meant to wear Berry styled clothing. No…just for all that's holy no!

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FORTYEIGHT

"Oh fuck no, forget that! I ain't singing no Rebecca Black and that's final."

My voice echoed through everyone in the choir room, who were divided into small groups to figure out which songs we'd be performing at prom. Apparently rehearsing for nationals weren't enough so we'd been chosen to perform at prom with Mr. Shue's sheepish approval.

Anyway, my tone caught people's attention and more importantly, it caught Rach's and I swallowed a lump of…well, I was too hardcore for it to be dread, but it was along those lines if I had to be honest.

"Noah?" her voice was saccharine sweet and completely contradicted the steely glint in her brown eyes. "I'd really appreciate it if your unusual amount of dislike for the possible song choices for prom could be dimmed a bit as my group and I am working quite vigorously on solving the puzzle of whom performs when. Thank you." She added politely and turned away only after I'd nodded seriously at her in obedience.

Finn's sly grin and muttered teasing didn't bother me as much as Sam's did, mostly due to the fact that Quinn demanded his presence all of the sudden with a snap of her fingers and he jumped like the whipped wimp he really was.

Sam on the other hand was single and had every right to mock me. A small part of me, the one that used to sort of enjoy bullying other people, wanted to point out he'd still be looking like Shaggy's drugged cousin if it weren't for me, but I beat it down easily enough and just shrugged with a small smile playing on my lips.

If figuring out the singing for prom had been the only thing I was dealing with, I don't think I would've been so sour. But, as things stood, it wasn't the only thing; hell, it wasn't even the worst part of it all. No, there was the whole actual prom part to contend with too.

Rachel and the other girls in glee club were acting like they'd been possessed by some sort of evil spirit of well…obsessed chicks really.

Rach was on the phone every night discussing her clothing for the damn thing, even though Quinn, Sunshine and sometimes Tina with a broody looking Mercedes came over to our house at night to get the details just right. It was pretty fucking horrible.

And the guys of New Directions weren't that much better either. I'd seen Mike fret about his abs in the gym, muttering something about busting moves to impress Tina, despite the fact that their Asian Fusion seemed to be the most stable thing in school – aside from the Puckleberry love train of course.

Artie was telling anyone bothering to listen that he was gonna pimp his ride up so much that he'd be praised like the awesome dude he was or something. I didn't care, just high-fived him in support, 'cause Wheels was still my friend and all.

Sam was on yet another diet, even though he wasn't even sure he was gonna go due to his cash issues; Finn was storming around, asking us all as covertly as he could about corsages and matching ties and shit. It was like some sort of personal hell for me. But still, I wasn't the one having the worst time if I had to be completely frank.

Kurt, the poor schmuck was acting like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Dave still hadn't come out of the closet, and I think Kurt totally respected that, but like every little girl, he just really wanted to go to prom and get the whole experience. It'd be cute if it wasn't so nauseating.

Anyway, in the midst of his helpful advice to the girls about their dresses (and to Finn too, since he was the only one who gave a damn anymore about my old friend's pleading puppy dog eyes), I caught him looking pretty gloomy when he thought no one was looking.

Sighing heavily, I walked over to him and sat down next to him as Rach and Santana were arguing about which of them were gonna close the show, with a slightly desperate looking Mr. Shue caught in the middle. No one was looking at us, since the two girls' antics were a hell of a lot funnier than mine, so I just nudged Beyonce's shoulder briefly with mine and told him to spill whatever was going on inside that excessively styled hair of his.

Kurt sighed and looked down at his impeccable nails. "I never thought my prom was going to be like this, I guess."

"Dude," I shrugged, "it's not even our Senior prom, there's still time to get things right for that one. Don't sweat it."

"Is that what you tell Rachel at night when she's going on and on about the whole shindig as well?" Kurt's tone was a little too innocent to be real, so I smirked, 'cause the dude had a valid point.

"We're not talking 'bout me, Beyonce, so quit it. Look, Dave's crazy about you; hell, the guy's even agreed to tell everyone his secret to keep you by his side. Not a lot of high school kids would do that."

Kurt sighed again, "I know that, Puck. I even respect that he's not ready to do anything quite as drastic right now. We talked about going public right before the summer vacation, so people could get the time to adjust before the new school year…"

"Cool," was all I said, 'cause it was clear that Kurt wasn't finished.

"But I just really want to get that whole experience with the guy and the flowers, the dancing and the pictures. I was hiding once and I don't like doing it again."

"I get that, but if it makes you feel better, Rach said something last night about getting the club together at her, I mean our house for a little private prom party soon, so you could get your perfect gay night then."

Kurt shuddered with mock horror, "Is she gonna provide alcohol again?"

"God no, Man," I grinned, "no more alcohol for a long time, I promise."

Kurt smiled but then he grew serious again, "Blaine asked me to be his date last night."

Okay, that was news that hit me right out of nowhere. "Gonna say yes?" I asked and expanded a bit roughly, "'cause that'd be a shitty thing to do to your actual boyfriend."

The look my former favorite target sent me told me that he was quite aware of that fact himself and didn't need my dumb ass pointing it out to him.

"He said that he's okay with my feelings for Dave, and that he won't jeopardize our friendship, but that he thinks that I deserve to go to this prom without feeling guilty."

I was gonna kick Blaine's gelled ass next time I saw him, friend or not. Damn, he was using the window of opportunity that Dave's fears had given him. I wasn't gonna let him ruin Dave's shot at happiness. Oh damn, I realized with an internal shudder, I was turning into my matchmaking Nanna.

"For fuck's sake, Hummel," I leaned forward, grabbing his shoulders firmly. "You're totally into Dave; he's totally into you and if you let your pansy ass fantasies ruin that, you're an even bigger idiot that I ever gave you credit for. Grow the hell up, Dude and go stag. Hell, go and make out in the closets with Dave during the night and maybe it'll be a decent evening regardless."

Kurt twisted out of my grip and grabbed his bag before leaving with one last glare in my direction. The other Gleeks never even noticed a thing, too focused on the verbal chick fight still going on between Rach and Santana.

I made a mental note to get a hold of Dave and try and get him to see the danger that was Blaine and his man crush before going down to put an end to Rachel's lecture and if possible stop Santana from resorting to violence; I mean, she was already hissing in Spanish and that was never a good sign, take it from someone who used to date the temperamental broad.

0o0o0

"Hey Puckerman," one of the guys from the band that usually played for us during glee, stepped in front of me the next afternoon as I was on my way to the gym to work out while I waited for my girl to finish her rehearsing for prom.

"What's up, Jimmy?" I smiled at the little guy, who barely reached my shoulders.

The smile immediately vanished once he told me that Rachel had been joined by none other than Jesse St. Bonehead in the auditorium and that they seemed to be having a very intense talk. I might have growled a bit, judging from the band geek's sudden paleness, but I didn't give a shit, already on route to the auditorium to possibly kick that curly haired bastard's ass.

Ten minutes later, I was sitting dazedly with Rachel on my lab, cooing softly in my ear as Jesse was staring at me with widened eyes. He hadn't shown up to make a move on my girl, hell he hadn't even shown up to goat us before Nationals. Instead, he was here to warn us about something that I hadn't really thought about for a while.

Shelby…

It would seem that even though her grip on my mother had lessened, the coach still hadn't stopped her crusade to wreck havoc in our lives. Why, I still had no fucking clue. She'd given up Rach as per an agreement and shit and when she'd gotten a chance to get to know her only child, she'd treated Rachel like a slut and ignorant moron and ended up losing every chance of a relationship she might have had.

"D'you know what she's planning?" I muttered with my lips on Rachel's head.

Jesse looked sorry as he shrugged. "Nah, she quit telling me stuff once I went to UCLA and got busy. I just heard by accident because since my unexpected suspension I went to Carmel to ask if I could be assistant coach to Vocal Adrenaline. I mean, no offence," Jesse's smiled predatorily, "they need my help to beat New Directions."

We sat in silence for a while, until Rachel suddenly straightened up and announced in no uncertain terms that she was going to Carmel to confront her so called mother dearest and put an end to things before yet another catastrophe hit us all right in the head. Of course, she managed to use a lot more words and flowery expressions than that, but I got the point.

Anyway, I immediately informed her that I was going too and less than twenty minutes later, we were on route to Carmel High School to confront Shelby.

To say that she looked pleased to see us was a pretty big understatement. Hell, I think she would've greeted Hitler better than us.

"What are you doing here?" she sneered, casting a glance at Jesse, who looked like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. "We're done rehearsing for today, so you won't be able to sneak inside and steal our ideas."

Oh no she didn't! I was about to say some rather harsh words, when Rachel unceremoniously held up a hand to tell me to shut up and she launched into a scolding diatribe herself.

"Look Shelby," the tone in her voice sent shivers of something way too cowardly down my spine and made the hairs in the back of my neck stand out and I discreetly moved a few steps backwards, just in case of bloodshed. "I have come to realize over the years that I have a fortunate life. I have two devoted fathers, who did everything in their power to have me in their life. I've got an amazing boyfriend, whom I love more than I ever thought possible and to top everything off, I've got the most wonderful little girl, whom I would lay down my life for in an instant."

Rachel smiled briefly without any real joy in her eyes, "You're probably wondering why I'm telling you this, and I honestly doubt that you have any potential to really understand what I'm trying to do here, but I'll make an attempt regardless. I would never do anything to harm my child; I would rather see her smile one time than win all the awards in the world. So, you see; the fact that you showed up last year, pretending to want a relationship with me, only to look at me with scorn and distaste, once you realized that I was pregnant, is something I simply cannot understand. This last year, your antics in our lives have brought nothing but hurt and disgust for you as a person. Judging from what Jesse has told me, and my own private research, you have a plan to somehow take my child away from me – be quiet Noah," she interjected when my cursing at her revelation interrupted her flow before she took one step closer to the woman who'd given birth to her.

"Like I said, judging from what I've managed to figure out, your attempt to prove me an unfit mother is just ridiculous. And I thought I couldn't hate you any more than I did when you somehow twisted Noah's mother's mind against us, but believe me, Shelby, the way I feel about you right now is quite hazardous to your pitiful life."

Shelby blustered a bit, trying to regain her cool without much of a success, "is that a threat?"

"No," Rachel smirked and leaned forward another inch, invading the older woman's personal space, "that's just a fact. Besides, I really do have better things to do than spend any more time worrying about you; you're nothing to me and whatever misguided notions and dreams I used to have about my mother have long ago been replaced by reality. I'm not interested in you anymore, my daughter will never know you and should I ever see you near me or mine again, I will not hesitate to act. Do you understand me?"

I can't really explain what was going through me during Rachel's speech to Shelby, I only knew that I was holding my breath as I waited to see what would happen. To my big surprise, the Choir Coach slumped against her desk, looking a lot older than she probably was.

"I just want-" she began, but Rachel cut her off with a lot less mercy than she usually possessed.

"I no longer care what you want. I've said what I wanted to say and I hope you'll take it under advisement during your next scheme. Oh," Rachel added with a tiny twitch of her lips as she turned in the doorway to look at Shelby, "I fully expect to win at Nationals, so you had better bring your A-game."

And just like that, we were off again and on our way home. Rachel didn't say a word during the ride, she just sat completely still as we drove. When we got home, she jumped out of the truck and all but ran into the living room where Caroline was playing with Emma, being watched by Quinn, who seemed to be in the middle of picking out some corsages from a magazine.

Next thing I knew, Rachel was hugging Caroling with tears rolling down her cheeks and Quinn looked about as stupefied as I did. I quickly let the former cheerleader know what had happened and handed my confused daughter to her before taking Rach in my arms and carrying her upstairs. She needed some distraction and I knew just the thing.

Sometime later, Rach rolled over on her stomach and placed her chin on my chest. "Was I too harsh on her?" she asked softly and I rolled my eyes.

"Babe, you weren't hard enough in my opinion. Stop worrying about it anymore and either let me blow your mind again or go downstairs and talk about your dresses and shit with Quinn for the hundredth time. She doesn't deserve to be in your head anymore, Rachel," I concluded seriously.

Rachel looked at me for a long while before she sighed. "I know." Then sadly, she decided to get dressed and head down to Quinn as I'd suggested.

I gotta admit, I pouted a little at that, 'cause I wouldn't have minded another go if you catch my drift. Aw well, it was nice to see my girl back to her old self anyhow.

I'd started getting dressed too when I got a text and looked at my phone for the first time in several hours. It was from Finn, apparently he just wanted to quadruple check if he really could pull off wearing a neon colored suit, 'cause Sam kept offering one to him, saying that it would go great with Quinn's colors.

I smirked, hoping with everything in me that Quinn never discovered my part in Sam's little prank, even as I typed back to my friend that Sam was completely right and that he should totally go for it…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FORTYNINE

Sadly, Rachel figured out what Sam and I were planning for Finn and managed to put a stop to it by alerting Quinn of what was going on. Let's just say that the fiery blonde hadn't exactly thanked me for my involvement – and judging from the now slightly freaked out look, Sam sported every time he looked at her, he hadn't escaped without injury himself.

Other than that, the whole prom thing seemed to be coming along nicely.

I'd been prevented from laying eyes on Rach the whole day while she got ready for the party with Quinn and the other girls from glee, who were all going; even Mercedes, who'd convinced Sam to go with her, despite his financial problems. Evidently Rach had planned for us all to go to prom on a budget, citing something about not flaunting the western world's excessiveness while so many other countries had next to nothing.

Only Sam and I knew it was her subtle way of preventing anyone from figuring out the guy was short on cash and since I didn't care one way or another, it soon spread out to the entire glee club as a way to respect those who had less than us or something (and to make Rach shut up about it too, if I had to guess).

Anyway, budget or not, the girls were still taking their sweet ass time and us guys were all gathered in our living room in our tux's, bored out of our skull. Hiram was jumping around, snapping pictures like a possessed housewife from the sixties while Abraham walked around and offered us homemade canapés of all things.

Finn and I took the opportunity to flaunt our little girls to the other guys, who knew better by now than to even sigh at our slightly over the top pride at our kids ability to stumble around and looking cute. Caroline was fucking beautiful and her ability to wobble around far overshadowed Eve's; just putting it out there.

Finally, there was movement from upstairs and Kurt came down with a big smile on his face, looking like he was responsible for everything we were about to see. Knowing the guy as I did, it probably wasn't that far off.

Quinn came down as the first one and Finn nearly dropped Eve, who'd just demanded to be picked up (I figured that she was fond of the view up there), and it was only Mike's quick reflexes that prevented her from toppling off her dad. Then Santana and Brittany, looking like a devil and an angel respectively, came down with small smiles on their faces. Mercedes came down next, looking cute with Tina right behind her. Mike's eyes seemed to want to roll out of his head at the sight of her and I snorted a little, 'cause he was still so fucking into her after all this time that it was pretty funny.

Of course, in the next second, Rachel appeared alongside a glowing Sunshine, and I immediately felt my jaw drop at the stunning picture she was. Fuck, she was beautiful and judging from the slightly mocking look that Mike sent my way, he was thinking the same thing I'd just thought about him.

Rachel wore this small, almost proud smile when she witnessed my reaction and the look in her eyes as they travelled down my amazing self clad in a tuxedo told me that she liked what she saw. Can't blame her really, 'cause…well, I am hot.

Anyway, we all suffered through Rachel's dads' sudden and ever so unexpected burst of eagerness when it came to pictures. I ended up damn near throwing a joyfully shrieking Caroline in their faces so we could all escape to the cars after forty-five minutes of intense photo hell.

So, when we arrived, things had already started. We'd been slowed down a little bit further, when Kurt made an unanticipated detour to pick up Blaine. The brief look we shared as we all waited for the overly gelled pretty boy, clearly told me that Kurt wasn't totally proud of his decision to accept Blaine's proposal of going together.

To be honest, I was kindda worried about Dave's reaction to that development, 'cause this might tip him over into the, 'I get pretty fucking violent when I'm angry' –stage; Also, not that I usually take any real notice of these kinds of things, but Blaine wasn't exactly ugly. (According to Rach, he was downright 'dreamy' – whatever the hell that means.) So, my point is, that Dave's pesky confidence problem might be an issue too…it was not gonna be a prom without drama, I just knew it.

Well, back to my story; we arrived at the prom itself and I gotta admit, it was pretty nicely done. I mean, the decorations were awesome and everything seemed very over the top as it should be. I still had no fucking clue how Figgins managed to dig up the funds for these major shindigs, but I wasn't about to complain, 'cause in the next moment, I spotted the buffet table. Yum-and I just gotta add – my.

All of the guys immediately travelled in that direction, while all the girls – and Kurt, obviously - headed to the restrooms to do whatever it was that chicks do together in there.

I was in the middle of seeing just how much grub my plate could handle without breaking, when Dave arrived. His date was his slightly chubby cousin, who was actually quite pretty. He looked eagerly in my direction, probably searching for his boyfriend, but then his eyes stopped dead when they landed on Blaine.

There was no doubt about it then, I sighed heavily and prepared to intervene if necessary; Dave hadn't had a clue that Blaine was gonna be with us tonight. A moment later, Rach's tinkling laugh warned me of the girls' arrival and Kurt looked slightly green as his eyes met Dave's a few seconds later.

I was debating whether or not to go over to them and just act like a cheerful idiot to break the ice, when Blaine sauntered – yup, the cocky son of a bitch was playing to his strengths – up to Kurt's side and placed an arm around his shoulders. Dave's eyes narrowed dangerously and I had just taken a step forward when Dave's cousin murmured something in his ear and dragged him into the throng of people; halting the inevitable confrontation for now.

At least I'd get time to eat before everything went to shit…

0o0o0

The music was pounding in my ears, and I couldn't really enjoy the whole prom thing, 'cause I was so busy keeping an eye on a more and more scowling Dave, a very uncomfortable looking Kurt, who was still being followed around by a stubborn looking Blaine.

Finally, my lack of attention towards my own date, seemed to get to her, 'cause Rachel actually stepped down on my foot in the middle of a dance we were doing. Hard.

"Aw, dammit, Woman," I growled, resisting the urge to jump around on one leg like an idiot. "What the hell was that for?"

Rachel raised her chin defensively, but I could see she was a little sorry for hurting me at least. Then she spoke and it became my turn to feel guilty.

"Noah, for the past thirty minutes or so, I've been talking, dancing and well…somewhat enjoying myself, but instead of having a wonderful date by my side, I've been stuck with a distracted male, whose only contribution to this supposedly memorable evening has been to grunt in affirmative when I asked him to dance. If you were planning on making me feel insecure about my ability to keep a man's admittedly shifting attentions, you must be pleased to know that you've succeeded most admirably."

"Babe," feeling like an asshole, I quickly took a gentle hold of her wrist as she turned away from me, her eyes suspiciously bright. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to act like a complete tool; but…" I hesitated, glancing over her head to see Dave making his way out of the gym, "I'm worried about Dave and Kurt."

Immediately, Rach looked like she'd been hit on the head with a ton of bricks. Evidently, she'd not been her usual observant self this evening and as she cast her own discreet looks around her, I saw her absorb everything with an ease that came from a lot of practice.

"I completely understand," she said a moment later, smoothing out my slightly crumbled tie with a small sheepish smile, "I fear I've let my fantasies come between the reality of the situation and I promise you that I shall do my upmost to make Kurt see the error of his ways within a reasonable timeframe."

"So that's just a fancy way to say that you're gonna bully Kurt into realizing that Blaine's nothing but a good friend, and remind him of his own feelings towards Dave?" I prompted with a slight smirk.

Rachel just smiled, pecked my lips briefly and vanished into the mass of dancing people until she appeared right behind Kurt and began dragging him away for some private conversation. Blaine looked at their disappearing forms with a slight frown, but honestly, I couldn't muster up much sympathy for the guy. Instead, I made my way through the gym and exited the room through the same doors that I'd seen Dave use, hoping to track him down before he did something stupid.

I was prepared for him to go back to his bullying ways, possibly spray painting Kurt's locker with homophobic phrases or something, so imagine my surprise when I found the dude sitting calmly up against the lockers right outside the gym with a sad look on his face.

"Hi Man." Shit, I sounded like I was expecting him to be carrying a gun, just waiting to go all crazy on me.

"Down, Puck," Dave ordered without looking at me. I guess I was being kindda obvious about how I was feeling. "I'm not gonna explode, so just chill."

"Okay," I slowly slid down next to him, nodding casually to Mike, who walked by with a giggling Tina at his arm. "So, since you're all Yoda and shit; mind telling me why the fuck you're not in there forcing Blaine to back the hell off."

Dave snorted, running a hand through his hair. He looked deflated or something, like he was carrying something heavy on his shoulders that no one could see with the naked eye.

"I guess, 'cause I'm not that surprised really." He continued when I opened my mouth to ask what the hell he was talking about. "Look; Kurt knew I'm a coward even before we started dating. I promised him to come out and…well, managed to convince him to let me wait until summer's here. But I've seen the disappointment in his eyes whenever he thinks I'm not looking. I know he wishes for me to be whatever Harlequin romance hero he's always dreamed off, but I'm never gonna be that. Aside from the whole scared about my sexuality bit, I'm just not main man material. I mean, look at that Blaine guy; he's hot as hell and just the kind of guy Kurt deserves to be with. He said it himself once, you know; my chubby, sweaty self is the last person he'd ever want to be around."

Raising a brow, I slowly reached out and slapped Dave in the back of his head. Dave grimaced at the sudden pain and I just rolled my eyes. "Dude, in case you've forgotten; Kurt's been pretty honest about his feelings ever since you two hooked up. He gets that dreamy look on his face that Rach sometimes gets. Trust me, the guy's not into Blaine like that – he's totally into you and if you'd just go in there and prove that you're head over heels yourself, we wouldn't be here right now and Rach wouldn't be having the same talk with Kurt."

"Besides," I added, standing up in one fluent motion, "Blaine might be a pretty boy, but you're…well, fuck this is gonna sound gay even to me, so bear with me alright? You're a man and Kurt deserves a real dude to warm his bed and shit."

Dave laughed and copied my movement, albeit with a little less grace. "You're right, Puck. I'm gonna go talk to Kurt and then I'll go home and tell my parents and we'll see what happens."

"Well, you'll always have a place to stay if they react badly," I promised seriously and Dave held out a hand for a fist bump in silent thanks.

"Let's go in before they crown the King and Queen, 'cause I don't think Rach will forgive me if I miss out on anymore mile stones during this dance."

Dave nodded and we walked back into the gym, and to what I sincerely hoped would be a much calmer evening now that Dave had gotten his head back on straight.

0o0o0

A few hours later, I was carrying a sleeping Rach into our house. She'd fallen asleep even as she'd been fussing over the swelling around my right eye. I made my way into the bathroom for a quick shower and some time to think about everything that'd had happened that night, after I'd put Rachel to bed of course.

Yeah, so things hadn't exactly gone as smoothly as I'd naively hoped. It'd started when I'd been crowned Prom King for some weird ass reason. I'd been surprised as hell when Figgins had read out my name and judging from the gasps and wide eyed looks I'd received on my way up there, I wasn't the only one.

Rachel was clapping and cheering her little heart out, even as I'd mumbled something that resembled a thank you speech, but was realistically more along the lines of, "what the hell were you guys thinking?"

And then Figgins had prepared to read the Queen's name and I'd gotten a bad feeling even as his darker skin had turned pale a second before he read out Kurt's name.

This time, people had laughed and clapped mockingly and not even my patented glare could halt the mockery. It was official; the student body at McKinley was fucking idiots. Kurt had run out of the room, only to return a little bit later with Dave on one side and Blaine on the other.

Figgins had then, with a slight wobble in his accented voice, told us to dance the Prom King and Queen dance. The looks this time had been more than mocking, they'd been gleeful and full of evil anticipation and I'd just had enough.

Within a half a second, I'd dragged Kurt out to the dance floor and begun dancing with him; acting like it was nothing out of the ordinary. Some people had cheered, and some people had booed, and Kurt's bottom lip was being chewed on quite violently in an attempt to stop any reaction from showing. I gotta admit I'd never respected the guy more than I did in that moment.

Then to my big surprise, I'd felt someone tap my shoulder and looked around to see Dave of all people asking to cut in. This time people hadn't reacted, they'd been too shocked to do much of anything, especially 'cause barely a minute later, Dave had bent forward and kissed Kurt quite publically and definitely with an ease that came from a lot of practice thus cementing his sexuality in a totally hardcore way, if you ask me.

That's when things had turned a lot nastier than I'd ever expected them to. I don't know who had started it, but within moments, there was a full scale fight going on. I'd been clipped by someone, I didn't see and I hadn't given a crap, 'cause that's when I'd spotted Blaine making his way towards Dave with a fierce scowl on his face.

In the midst of the shouting, shoving and genuine mayhem of everything, I'd run up to the Warbler and held out my hand in a clear warning, "turn around, Anderson and stay the fuck outta this or your pretty face's got an appointment with my fist. Got it?"

Blaine had looked gobsmacked, even as he had elegantly sidestepped Azimio and Sunshine, who were both laying into one of the other jocks, who'd shouted derogatory comments at a fighting Dave and Kurt, "I was only going to assist them," he had explained; this time completely ruining my image of him as a dainty Nancy boy with too much hair gel, 'cause even as he was speaking, he slammed a fist into the before mentioned jock's face and high fived a ferocious looking Sunshine, who immediately dived back into the fray with an entirely too happy expression on her face. "It's quite obvious that Kurt doesn't see me in a romantic light anymore. And judging from the way, Dave just knee'ed that unfortunate guy trying to punch Kurt, I'd say he's very set on protecting his boyfriend and I can only respect that."

"You know," I'd said, and grabbed a half empty punch bowl from the buffet table and threw the contents on some of the fighters next to me, who had been ganging up on Artie. For some reason, Coach Sylvester was running towards me, gesturing for the bowl, which I'd quickly held out to her. "You're not half as bad as I thought."

"Puck, look out!" Blaine's words had only just reached me, when I'd felt an intense pain and everything had gone dark.

When I'd woken up, I'd been in the nurse's office where a lot of people had been moaning and crying even as some had been laughin and showing off their 'battle scars'.

Rach had been sitting next to me with a bandage on her cheek and a slight bruising on her knuckles. She'd caught my look and informed me that I really shouldn't be surprised since all of this evolved due to homophobia and since she had two gay dads and a gay best friend, she really couldn't stay uninvolved in the primitive fight for justice. Or something, I think I was still a bit too groggy to pick up everything she said.

It'd taken a little bit before I'd found out what had happened with everybody. Dave and Kurt had been announced the innocents in the whole mess and had been allowed to go home without any repercussions. Blaine had – along with Coach Sylvester – been one of the people who'd been instrumental in ending the whole fight in the end. Azimio and Sunshine had been suspended for a few days, for being excessively protective of their friends; I think I heard that they'd kicked so many butts that more than half of the people present wouldn't be able to sit down for a week. Artie and Santana had momentarily put their rivalry for Brittany aside to form a kickass duo that wound up delivering quite a few bruises of their own. Mercedes and Lauren Zizes of all people had been seen dragging a furious Sam out of the gym before things really escalated. The Asian Fusion hadn't been present, which I honestly think is a good thing, 'cause Mike is still the only one who ever beat me during my Fight Club days. Quinn and Finn hadn't been present either; from what I gathered, they'd slunk off to one of the unused classrooms for a little…uhm, let's just call it self-study. Rach had done some damage herself, but due to her ability to talk anyone, who listened into sleep, she'd gotten off with a warning.

I wasn't even warned, for some reason, despite the blows I'd dealt out during the mayhem. Evidently, Coach Sue had gone to the matt for me, citing something about protecting a favored heirloom even as I'd been knocked out. Seems like that glass bowl had been hers and she was mighty happy that I'd broken its fall when I'd gone down.

Anyway, we'd been allowed to leave after Figgins finished rounding up the people who'd started it all and those – in Azimio and Sunshine's case – who'd enjoyed it all way too much and forced them to clean up all the mess.

Wiping away the steam from the mirror, I grinned at my reflection even as I winced internally at the bruising. Despite everything that it had turned into; the homophobic people that had been revealed and the pain and crap; the prom thing had been kindda cool – I suddenly couldn't wait for Senior Prom.

Mostly, I realized as I put on a fresh pair of boxers before sliding in next to a soft snoring Rach, 'cause it all meant that I now had an entire year to figure out a sure way to get Finn into that damned suit…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FIFTY

"Hey Berry…uhm…thanks for…uhm…I really appreciate it."

I stood completely frozen, watching Azimio of all people stumble through an apology to Rach, who looked coolly up at her old bully.

The black jock had walked up to us just after our first class had ended and started mumbling, only to be pushed rather harshly forward by a stone faced Sunshine behind him. I didn't really get a chance to do much of anything, 'cause a second later, Azimio had grabbed Sunshine and dragged her away, leaving me to look down at my own girl with my jaw hanging open in shock and confusion.,

"Oh don't look like that, Noah," Rachel huffed, turning back to her opened locker to finish preparing for her next class. "I don't understand why you're so surprised that Azimio thanked me; after all, I did manage to talk Figgins out of suspending them and also keeping the whole sordid matter off their records."

"Yeah, about that," I took her stuffed backpack out of her hands, 'cause I'm a perfect gentlemen when I want to be, you know, "why did you even do that in the first place? I mean the guy's put you through hell – especially since we hooked up last year. Also, you used to hate his guts for the whole appendix thing too."

Rachel rolled her eyes and wrapped her arm through my free one, like she preferred even as she answered my question softly, "I can't honestly say that I've changed my mind about Azimio, but he is after all, Sunshine's boyfriend and as such worthy of my respect. She only participated in the prom on my say so and the subsequent brawl as well and…Well, I wanted to help her and not him, okay?"

Grinning, I nodded; not really willing to get her mad at me by pointing out that Sunshine had not needed Rachel's urging to participate in the fight at prom – she'd practically jumped at the chance. No, really, the tiny foreign exchange student literally jumped into the chaos with a scream of delight, I saw it.

Anyway, Rachel seemed to know I was keeping my mouth shut, but allowed me to do it without any repercussions. So, I kissed her goodbye and handed her back her backpack before turning around to head to my own upcoming class.

On the way there, I frowned a little at the sight of Coach Sylvester stomping through the hall ahead of me, leaving a devastated looking Becky in her wake (and the usual cluster of petrified students, of course). The Down's syndrome girl looked like her world had just ended and her face were lined with tears. I'm not afraid to admit, that I forgot all about my being late for class and walked over to her, ready to open up a can of whoopass on the one who'd hurt her.

"Hey, Becks," I greeted, smiling the gentle smile that I usually reserved for my daughter. "What's up?"

Becky looked up at me, snot pouring out of her nose and her big eyes were puffy and full of tears. "C-Coach Sylvester doesn't like me anymore," she stuttered out and before I knew what happened, the girl had wrapped her arms around me and was downright sobbing into my shirt.

A few moments later, Brittany showed up out of the blue, tearing Becky out of my arms and looking at me like I'd made her cry. Santana's presence appeared only seconds later; I don't know why I was surprised, where one of these chicks was, the other one soon followed.

"What the hell is going on here, Puck?" Santana growled, standing in front of Brittany, who was trying to soothe the still weeping Becky by telling her that she'd take her on that idiotic talkshow of hers to talk about being sad and blue like the color, which coincidentally was a really pretty.

"First off," I held up a hand, wiping the other one free of tears and…other stuff on my jeans, "don't get all up in my face, 'cause Lima Heights or not, you know I'm more badass than you. Second of all, I ain't got no fucking idea; she just started wailing about Coach Sylvester hating her or some shit like that."

Okay, so I wasn't exactly being diplomatic, I realized when my words made Becky sob even louder and bury her blonde head in Brittany's shoulder with a shriek. Santana looked confused, but then shared a quick look with Brittany before looking back at me.

"Coach Sylvester has been on the warpath all day – more than usual," she added when I just raised an eyebrow, 'cause that sweat suit wearing maniac being evil wasn't exactly what you'd call news. "But she usually never, ever says anything to Becky. She's the only one the Coach never bullies."

That was true, I mean, I had seen Coach Sylvester tear a new asshole into a couple of guys who'd tried convincing Becky that she shouldn't wear underwear in her Cheerio's uniform whenever they performed, 'cause it'd be bad luck. Let's just say those motherfuckers still twitched violently and ran away whenever the tall Coach approached.

"Just take her away and get her mood back up," I ordered, gentler now as Becky seemed to calm down a little, "I'll go and talk to Mr. Shue, get him to go to her and force her to get her act together before she lands herself in jail for child abuse."

Santana nodded and led her sort of girlfriend, slash best friend and Becky out of the doors to the parking lot and I turned and prepared my search for Mr. Shue. Then I rolled my eyes, 'cause really, ever since Miss Pillsbury's divorce the dude had only ever been one place whenever he wasn't at glee or in class.

0o0o0

Later that day, I felt like an evil ass when I heard through the grapevine that coach Sylvester's sister had died. Fuck, no wonder she couldn't stand to be around Becky, it'd probably remind her of her sister too much.

But, still, I thought she could've used a lot of other, less nasty ways to get her number one to go away. And that's just what I told her when I cornered her in the office after Kurt and Finn had spewed off some of their nice guy crap and left looking like they were the ones experiencing the loss themselves.

Coach Sylvester looked at me, I mean Looked with a capital L here, and I had to stop myself from bolting right back out of the door, but I reminded myself that I was an awesome, courageous specimen of a man and I wasn't intimidated by this admittedly harsh looking old chick…I wasn't.

"Baby Daddy, I'm not in the mood to listen to your no doubt unintelligent thoughts and ideas; go to Shuester for that, he's feminine enough to handle it. Now go away."

The venomous words were the same as always, but it was clear to anyone with eyes that she was too involved in her grief to put much effort into it, so I deemed it safe enough to get a little bit closer.

"Look, I'm just-" I began, but was interrupted when Coach Sylvester straightened up in her seat and glared at me; I quickly altered my wording and left right after saying, "…just leaving, that's all. See ya."

I stopped short as soon as I came out of her office, spotting Kurt and Finn standing closely together with Dave and Quinn hovering nearby with warning glares to anyone, who seemed to want to use a slushie near their loved ones. I gotta admit, I was secretly impressed when Quinn scowled so evilly at one of the oncoming guys that I recognized as one of those I'd kicked the shit out of at prom, that the dude just smiled sickly and turned right around in the other direction.

A moment later, I reached the quartet and caught Kurt's muttered sentence about helping the grieving coach to heal. "Count me in too," I stated, ignoring the shocked looks they all gave me. I didn't give a crap, I couldn't get the emotionless look in Coach Sylvester's eyes out of my mind; I remembered that look from when I thought I'd almost lost Rach and Caroline and it meant that she was feeling like her world was crumpling around her and she was too damned stubborn to realize it.

Twenty minutes later, Rach came bouncing up to me, lightly scolding me for skipping a few classes until she heard that Sylvester's sister was dead. How she hadn't known I chopped up to the fact that Rachel was deeply engrossed in her prep work for the upcoming Nationals. But, give the girl her due, 'cause as soon as she heard the news, she pulled out a planner and was a lot more instrumental in helping Kurt plan than Finn was.

I just leaned up against the lockers and started talking football with Dave, who looked like a fish out of the water in the middle of us Gleeks. I mean, I wanted to help, but knew from experience that whatever Rach fixed up would wind up being a hell of a lot more useful than anything I could cook up. Besides, I preferred to do the grunt work, and let others do the actual thinking, so I didn't care much.

A few minutes later, Finn shuffled over to join us, looking slightly scared of the intensity that Rach had sent into his step brother and his girlfriend. Dave just grinned when I slapped him on the back and told him to get back in there, since he'd gotten the actual idea.

I know, I wasn't exactly acting like a best friend should, but come on; the look of genuine fear on Finn's face was just too good to pass up.

0o0o0

In the end, the entire glee club was helping with orchestrating the funeral and getting the Coach's sister's stuff organized. Finn and Kurt had dragged me with them to the home where Coach Sylvester's sister had lived to help pack up the stuff she'd left behind, only to get the order to toss everything out by the surviving sister as soon as she entered the smallish room.

Kurt and Finn looked devastated as they slowly began doing what she'd said, so I held up a hand to get their attention before telling them to go home and to leave the packing up to me, since I knew where everything was due to the fact that my long deceased great grandma had lived in the same home.

It was a load of bullshit, but the guys bought it and left, looking slightly relieved to get out of the actual work and I waited for a few moments, until I knew they were gone before going in search of the leader of the home to chat with her about a few things I'd need.

I came home late that night, exhausted and probably smelling like something the cat dragged in, but I didn't really care, 'cause I thought all I'd done was worth it.

As soon as I opened the door, Rachel catapulted in to my arms, only to jump off of me way too soon with a cute little frown on her face. Obviously she shared my theory about stinking up my surroundings. To nip her words in the bud, I just grabbed her hand and walked towards our bathroom, figuring I might as well enjoy myself a little while I showered.

0o0o0

After a very fulfilling shower that involved a lot of stroking and bodily fluids being exchanged, if you know what I'm talking about (wink), I practically had to drag myself back downstairs to eat something and spend some quality time with Caroline, whose energy levels never seemed to match mine. I mean, when I was full of energy, she was sleeping peacefully and when I was more dead than alive, she was more hyper than the energizer bunny himself.

Finally, after a few hours, Rach took pity on me and didn't force me to scramble through my homework and followed me into bed. We talked quietly together for a little while, but I must have dozed off in the middle of our conversation, 'cause next thing I know, Caroline is being placed on my chest and Rachel told me to get ready for the funeral that we were gonna perform at for some reason.

The funeral itself was beautiful and a lot more colorful and original than I'd ever seen before; it seemed like Kurt, Rach and the others had created something fresh, it was a scene right out of Willy Wonka…you know, except for the whole there being a dead person in the room thing.

We all went home to our respective homes afterwards and, in my case at least, tried to get the picture of the tough as nails, Coach Sylvester crying out of my head.

Things moved on, like they always do and the glee club even got a few visits from Jesse, where he passed on a few decent pieces of advice for us. I say few, 'cause the curly haired pansy was way too happy about the whole critiquing part of being a teacher; but long story short; he did come up with a few good ones and we were all the better for it. And it felt nice sticking it to Shelby too; I mean, having her biggest star – albeit graduated – assist us was pretty nice.

In the midst of the preparations for Nationals, and the incessant rehearsals at home that Rach pretty much insisted on (seriously, I think my voice was about to give, she insisted on us rehearsing that much), I noticed that Coach Sylvester wasn't still back to her old self yet. Sure, she'd let Becky back at her side and seemed pretty okay with it, but still; something was missing and I caught her glancing regretfully up in the sky once or twice when I walked past her.

Deciding that my waiting had been long enough, I decided to take a chance. I got up early one Saturday morning, told Rach that I'd be taking Caroline for a little drive. Judging from the suspicious looks she gave me, I knew she wasn't entirely happy with my evasiveness, but I quickly promised to fill her in later and she started getting up to, and I quote, "get the most out of this unexpected burst of alertness."

About an hour later, just as the sun was getting up, I pulled up at the curb at Coach Sylvester's completely normal looking home. I ignored the slightly surprised part of me that had always thought that she lived in some kind of evil dungeon, possibly with Severus Snape guarding her door, and grabbed my babbling kid before walking up and ringing the doorbell.

I gotta say that my heart was pounding a little bit faster than usual as I waited for the door to open. Finally, yet all too quickly, it happened and I was looking at the coach's maid, who looked pityingly up at me when I asked to see her boss.

A moment later, Caroline and I were escorted in to this humongous room that was filled with trophies and not much else. Coach Sylvester was sitting by a big mahogany desk that looked like it was about to crack under all the medals lying unceremoniously on top of it.

"Baby Daddy?" Coach Sylvester looked up at me with confusing battling her usual rage. I held out Caroline, hoping that the somewhere inside of her, the Coach had an inkling of a real female and wouldn't want to hurt such a precious little kid as mine.

It seemed to work, 'cause Coach Sylvester merely sighed and leaned back in her chair. "What are you doing here?"

Sighing mentally in relief, I walked closer and shrugged. "Look, Coach; I'm not big on being nice and shit; especially to you, 'cause you're…well, slightly evil and stuff, but I can see you're hurting and I wanted to give you this even though you said you didn't want it."

I nodded with my chin at the door, signaling that whatever I had for her, it was outside. Coach Sylvester's eyes narrowed ominously, but to my big surprise, she didn't actually say anything and just followed me a few seconds later, as I made my way back outside.

As soon as we were on her doorstep, Coach Sylvester froze at the sight of my truck. Not the vehicle itself, of course, but what was in the pickup part of the truck. It was overflowing with all of the crap I'd painstakingly sorted through that day in the nursery home when I'd sent Finn and Kurt home. I'd gotten a special permission from the director of the nursing home to store the deceased Sylvester's belongings in their basement until I could figure out a way to store it myself.

And well…I'd just been waiting for a little time to pass before I sought out Coach Sylvester to give her back the things that she'd denied wanting that day – judging from the slowly dawning look of pure joy on the old chick's face, I'd say it was a wise choice.

"I don't have much of anything from my old life with me," I mumbled, feeling a tad bit awkward as the notoriously nasty Coach Sylvester looked almost teary eyed at the stuff in my truck, "I've never really wanted it, but I'm a dad now and…well, I didn't want you to regret not having anything from your sister, aside from than grungy old bear of hers. Besides," I looked away, knowing my words would cause a reaction I didn't really want to see, "did you know that your sister kept a journal? She wrote a lot of nice stuff in there; I didn't read all of it, don't worry, but…I don't know, fuck I just think you made a bad choice that day and should get these things back, so you have a lot more memories of your sister, okay?"

The last part sounded a little too defensive, I know, but come on, I was sort of consoling McKinley's biggest bitch and it was making me slightly edgy to tell you the truth.

"Baby Da-Puckerman," Coach Sylvester sounded a bit hoarse, but more like she used to, so I managed to look at her. Aside from a little too bright eyes she did seen normal, thank God. "Thank you for this…" We stood silently for a few moments until Coach Sylvester straightened up and came back to her senses for the first time since her sister's passing.

"Now what are you standing around here for; give me that no doubt only intelligent Puckerman of yours and get moving. I want all the stuff in my house before the next hour is up or else I will make you see that I'm not just a pretty face. Move it!"

Grinning surreptitiously, I handed over my daughter, who seemed overly happy with the prospect of getting to pull the coach's hair and got to work, feeling a little pleased with myself if I have to be honest.

"Move it, Baby Daddy before I get out my gun and start some shooting practice on you; with your speed there's no way I'd miss!"

Yeah, okay, so maybe I shouldn't tell anyone that I'd been the one to put the usual grimace of a smile back on Coach Sylvester's face; at least not until after Nationals…

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FIFTYONE

Sometimes I shudder to think about how Nationals would go if I hadn't been where I was in my life. I mean, the level of intense preparation (a.k.a. torture) that Rach had enforced upon me was almost ridiculous. And, since Quinn, and Sunshine were her two best friends, along with Kurt these days, between them, they all ensured that the rest of the New Directions didn't goof off in the last days before we had to leave for New York so we didn't show up thinking we knew everything.

Anyway, even though I totally respected, hell even felt grateful for all of the hard work and seriousness Nationals were bringing on, I still had to fight back a groan or two when, on the morning on our departure for New York, Rach insisted on rehearsing everything one last time.

"Babe, relax," I eventually managed to say in a somewhat normal tone of voice as I tried for the nth time to get my stubborn daughter to eat her oatmeal, "we know all the words and shit, it's not gonna magically vanish if we don't rehearse all of our free time. Seriously, it's probably even a good thing with a little break or two, before we end up losing our voices, you know."

Rach actually looked a little pale at the thought of losing her voice like she'd done before so long ago and nodded. "Well then," she straightened a few inches, "I shall endeavor to make packing a complete success; since I have a lot of reason to believe that you once again, have just thrown your clothing haphazardly into a sports bag quite unceremoniously, hoping it's all there, if I know anything about you."

My thoughts drifted to the half opened bag sitting on my bed with various clothing and hygiene products thrown into it carelessly just after my morning shower while Rach had taken care of Caroline's morning needs.

"That's totally not…" I began, grinning sheepishly as my girlfriend just raised a skeptical eyebrow, "…not untrue so I'll be happy for any help you'll give me."

Rachel grinned that relaxed smile that she only ever really used around me and Caroline before planting a quick kiss on said little girl's brown burls and disappearing upstairs, leaving me to get through yet another round of feeding a reluctant kid her breakfast.

Thirty minutes later, I got out of my second shower of an only just begun day, grinning ruefully at the giggling Caroline sitting in her playpen in the living room. "Think you're so funny, don't you, Cutie?" I shook my head a little, when all that my little girl did was blow me a raspberry, something her devoted "Uncle Dave" had taught her the week before.

Yeah, well, I reckoned with a small, secretly pleased sigh, I would be fucking pleased too, if I'd managed to pour my lukewarm oatmeal over my dad's head when I'd been a kid…you know, if the rat bastard had actually tried acting like a dad to me and not like the drunken loser that he was.

"So, the munchkin won another round, huh?"

I started a little at Quinn's voice and spun around, hoping that I didn't look like a complete ass. "No," I hastened to protest, "I just felt like showering, okay?"

"Right…" Quinn's disbelieving tone was obvious and I decided to ignore it and just keep whatever dignity I could, 'cause to be honest, the former cheerleader had seen me getting my ass handed to me during too many breakfasts over the last year for me to deny anything too much.

"Whatever," I simply muttered and grabbed my clean shirt and finished getting fully dressed, valiantly ignoring the tiny blush that I could feel on my face, 'cause Puckzilla doesn't blush 'cause he's…uhm, awesome. Shut up.

A half an hour later, Rach and I reluctantly kissed our kid goodbye, made sure Hiram had enough tissues as he just couldn't seem to stop weeping and I secretly told Abraham, that I had put a couple of steaks in the freezer in a empty box of vegetables for when Hiram was working late. We meat eaters gotta stick together after all.

Anyway, soon after that we were on our way to the airport with Quinn and Finn crammed into the truck beside us. New York here we come!

0o0o0

"I want to go home," the person speaking broke through all the excited chatter as we settled down in our rooms at the hotel several hours later. Mostly, 'cause it was Rachel 'I'm fucking obsessed with New York' Berry who said it.

"Okay, who died and possessed Manhands?" Santana unceremoniously asked; her usual sneer not able to hide her slight concern.

"Uh, should we call Sam and Dean?" Brittany asked, going off to into the corner of the room, muttering something about not knowing if she could get them to come since they were travelling around in an Impala and were…well, fictional.

I rolled my eyes and looked down at Rachel who was standing still next to me, looking surprisingly gloomy for being in her favorite city of all time. "What's wrong Babe?"

"I do not wish to air my dirty laundry so to speak in such a public venue," Rachel murmured, looking around at all the other Gleeks' curious looking faces. Grinning at the somewhat offended looks that remark cost her; I just took a gentle hold of her hand and dragged her into the bathroom that came with each set of rooms.

Huh, I glanced at the bathtub as we came in, wondering briefly if I might get a chance to convince Rach to join me before her crazy gene took over completely. Judging from the small glare and quick punch to my arm, I realized I may have been a little too obvious in my leering, so I quickly snapped out of an emerging fantasy of enjoying myself with a lot of bubbles and Rachel (not necessarily in that order) and looked a little more serious.

"Babe; what the hell's going on with you?"

Rachel bit her lip and looked away, suddenly looking a little abashed, like she knew what she was about to say was a tiny bit ridiculous. "I'm scared."

"Scared? Of losing?" I immediately launched into a cheerful speech to remind her of all the awesomeness that she really had going on. "You have nothing to worry about; I mean, you're hot, sing like a fucking angel and are way more talented than any of these other losers that's gonna compete. Hell, we all know it so…and you're totally hot and have never looked skinnier." (Yup, throw in the thin card and everything will be okay again).

Except for the unexpected fact that Rach started to tear up of all things, as soon as I stopped talking. "Uhm…you're kind of freaking me out, Sweetie," I whispered, suddenly a lot more concerned than before. Rach was a lot of things, but a weeping damsel wasn't one of them.

"Oh Noah," she practically groaned, sitting down daintily on the edge of the bathtub, "I'm scared because the last time we were at a competition, I nearly lost my child. I have this unbelievable ill feeling of something of that nature transpiring once again and it's making me want to throw up, but I know it's not good for my vocal chords and I can't make myself throw up since – as you very well know – my lack of gag reflex would hinder me more than anything and I just want to go home, hold my child safely in my arms and make darned sure that she's as healthy right this minute as when we left her this morning."

"Oh…" Well, what could I really say to that? I grimaced a bit before giving my quickly thought-out solution. "Wanna get you mind of things and take a dip in the bathtub?"

"Noah!"

"…"

"…oh, alright, but please lock the door before Santana and or the rest of New Directions sees more of me than they've ever wished in their lives."

Score!

0o0o0

About an hour later, Rachel and I came out from the bathroom with a sheepish grin (her) and a big ass smirk (me), facing the glowering and in some cases uncomfortable looking Gleeks.

I just told them to go fuck themselves and then noticed that Mr. Shue wasn't in the room. Sam caught me looking around and guessed what I was gonna ask, 'cause he just shrugged and mumbled something about our teacher doing paper work for the competition and that he'd be back later.

Santana, Mercedes and Kurt seemed to realize simultaneously that we were without any so called adult supervision and started talking about going out and seeing New York up close and personal, and it quickly spread to most of the others.

Now, usually, I'd be right there with them all; fuck, I'd probably try hitting the bars for fruity drinks and crap, trying to enchant a New York Milf, but I was actually quite satisfied…I mean, you guys did catch the part about my woman not having a gag reflex, right?

Anyway, back to my point; some of the others took off to see the sights and whatever. I consoled myself with the fact that eventually I'd live in the city with Rach and Caroline twenty four seven, so I could always catch shit then.

Surprisingly, Quinn and Finn didn't follow the others out, deciding to spend time with us for some reason. After ten minutes of suffering through Quinn and Rachel's female tendencies to go to the bathroom together, Finn just looked at me with this weird, almost fearful look in his eyes.

"What's up?" I asked, riffling through my bag where I knew that Rach had packed a light snack for me. Finally I found the eight sandwiches and could devote some real attention to my friend.

"Dude," Finn cringed,"mind chewing with your mouth closed."

"Mind shutting the hell up or get to the point before I'm done with these?" I gestured to the remaining seven sandwiches.

Finn sighed and sat down on the nearest bed. "I kindda need to get your opinion on something." He waited, looking as if he feared that I'd jump up and scream that I didn't give out opinions or something. When I didn't do anything other than raise a brow and munch on sandwich number four, he continued in a rush. "'stoosoon?"

It was only years of being Finn Hudson's best friend that made sure I understood his word vomit, but even I had to process the sentence a few seconds, before its meaning became completely clear in my head.

"WHAT?" I practically roared, throwing away the remaining two sandwiches in the process. "Are you out of your fucking mind? We're just teenagers! We aren't ready for that kind of thing yet!"

Finn didn't seem surprised at my reaction, instead he looked eerily calm. "Look, Puck, like it or not – none of the four of us are kids anymore. Hell, we've got kids and…well, I want the whole deal, you know. A wife, a house and even the white-"

"Dude, if you end that sentence with 'fence', I may have to beat the shit out of you," I warned with a sigh, sitting back down on the other bed before continuing a little more gentle than before, "Why do you think about this all of the sudden? I mean, we are not even out of high school yet and from what I've overheard over the past year when she and Rach talked, Quinn's got plans of Yale and crap…not to burst your bubble, I don't think she's gonna wanna become a stay at home mom…"

Finn nodded, "I'd never ask her to do that. I love her, I want her to do and be whatever she wants, Dude. I just…I don't want her to leave me behind."

His words hit something inside of me that I rarely allowed to think about myself. It was spooky how much his thoughts and fears echoed those I didn't want to vocalize myself, but for my best bud, I had to at least try.

"Finn…" I began and ran a hand through my 'hawk to steady myself a little, to…well, launch into this pansy ass talking about one's feelings crap. "Look, Dog, I know how you feel; I'm petrified about Rach waking up one day and realizing what a loser I am and how little I have to offer while she runs off and dazzles the world – yes," I grinned tiredly at Finn's small smirk, "I said 'dazzled'. Anyway, I can't really say anything to kill those feelings you've got, 'cause like it or not; we both got women who are way above our league."

We sat quietly for a few moments, where only Rach and Quinn's laughter sounded from the bathroom, which briefly got me thinking about just how much the other Gleeks had heard of Rach's and I's little bath time moment earlier. Then I shook it off, deciding it wasn't exactly something I should worry about right now and turned back to a gloomy looking Finn.

"For what it's worth," I began quietly, hating that part of me that tried telling me I was a total wuss and should go ask out Kurt to complete the picture, "I wish I had your courage. I wish, I wasn't so screwed up that I could ask Rach to marry me and shit, but…despite all my evolvement and stuff, I'm still that messed up Puckerman kid, whose first instinct will always be hit first and ask questions later. You on the other hand are willing to go the distance no matter how not logical it seems and sometime I wish I could do that. Fuck, Finn, do whatever you want and no matter what happens I'll have your back. We're bro's despite all the crap that's been going on between us since Caroline and Eve made their appearance in our lives."

Finn cracked a small smile and just leaned back on the bed to wait for our girls to come back out. That's when I noticed that it'd been quiet from their end since my monologue and that was never a good idea.

A few seconds later, a smiling Rachel and Quinn came back out to us and started talking about going out for dinner, since, and I quote Rach here, "no one else of New Directions have the willpower to resist the alluring call of New York City".

It was only the extra tight hug later that night, where Mr. Shue finally showed up and delegated the girls to one side of the hotel and the boys to the other, that told me that Rach may have heard a little too much of my conversation with Finn and was trying to tell me without actually saying anything.

A little later, Sam, Finn, Kurt, Artie, and Mike had finally decided to go the fuck to sleep so I followed suit even though I wasn't the least bit tired. I mean, I'd come to realize over the last year or so that I had trouble sleeping without a certain tiny brunette lying next to me.

I was debating whether or not risking Rach's wrath of interrupting her much needed sleep before the competition just to see her for a short time, when there was a quick knock on the door and since I was the only one awake, I got up and opened the door a fraction. Then I broke out into a goofy grin at the sight of my girl standing there, looking a little bit sheepish herself.

"I can't sleep without you," she declared and that's how Sam found himself woken up a moment later, when I tossed his skinny ass out of the bed and offered it to Rachel with a smile.

0o0o0

Mr. Shue wasn't present at the breakfast table again and after Vocal Adrenaline's assistant Coach; a dude with way too white teeth and a little too much hair gel, came over, we all knew why. Apparently, our curly haired teacher was about to leave us hanging to go to Broadway to work for that drunk April chick. So we all confronted him the next time we saw him, which turned out to be the night before the competition.

But then, somehow we all ended up hugging the bastard when he revealed that he wasn't going anywhere after all and we spent the night eating pizza and enjoying ourselves. Of course, Rachel then woke us all up way too fucking early next morning, and forced us to rehearse in a tone of voice that even made Santana sit up and pay attention. I guess I wasn't the only one who respected Rach's mom voice these days.

Anyway, the time for the competition finally came along and I was nervous as fuck, it was only my tight grip on Rach's hand that made sure I didn't bolt to the nearest bathroom and puked my guts out. Judging from the greenish taint on Sunshine's face, I wasn't the only one feeling like that, so I made sure to point it out to a beaming Rach, who immediately grabbed her hand and distracted her.

I followed them as all of New Directions made their way to the seats to listen to some of the competition we were up against. I'm not gonna lie, the choirs that I managed to catch before our performance were fucking amazing and I could feel sweat of pure nerves pouring down my back as my insecurities grew. Don't get me wrong, I knew we were gonna be awesome, we'd practiced so much that I think I'd still be able to recite everything ten years in the future, thanks to Rach's hardcore pushing, but still; most of these choirs had had way more experience then we had and it would show no matter how much we rehearsed.

The moment Vocal Adrenaline entered the stage, Rach sighed and started whispering with Sunshine next to her, clearly not gonna reward her birth mother's choir with her attention and I smirked a little through that haze of fear that was all around me. Shelby had really fucked things up and it was her own loss that she hadn't seen how great a daughter she had when she had the chance.

The thought of Shelby, made me discreetly pat my pants pocket where I had a piece of paper prepared, just in case the insane female tried anything with us tonight. Without Rach's knowledge, I'd sought out her dads' and told them everything about the donor they'd picked once upon a time and how much of a mess she'd made in her attempts to get close to Rachel.

Let's just say that a volcano couldn't have erupted more than Hiram did hearing that and Abraham's stony silence had scared me more than anything else, 'cause that dude was dangerous if he put his mind to it. Well, to make a long story short, they'd gotten a lawyer friend to write something way to detailed and complicated for me to understand and told me to give it to Shelby if she came near us in New York. And from the looks of deviousness and hate on the Berrys' faces, I figured I should hand the paper over to Shelby even if she didn't try anything, just to rattle her a bit.

"Noah," Rachel's whisper brought me out of my vindictive fantasy of a paling Shelby, who begged for mercy and I turned to look at her, "we're going to perform after this choir, so come on, we have to warm up."

All thoughts of sticking it to Shelby immediately fled my mind, my nerves returned with a vengeance and I tried to do some of those calming breathing exercises that Rach had been taught during her pregnancy. Before I really knew if they'd succeeded much, Rachel was dragging me on to the stage and I was nearly blinded by the light shining down on me from above.

Okay, I thought, swallowing a lump of pure dread, let's show 'em what New Directions can really do…hopefully.

0o0o0

"Well," I said, a slow rueful smile beginning to break through, "at least we beat those Vocal Adrenaline bastards. No offence, St. Jackass."

Jesse, who'd shown up at our side just after we'd finished performing, rolled his eyes at me and said calmly, even through Santana's impressively loud shrieking, "Like that's the part of that sentence that I'd be offended about. Really, Puckerman." We shared one of our first ever truly amiable smiles and I turned around to look at a shell-shocked Rachel.

"We didn't win," she muttered, her brown eyes practically glued to the board in front of us, while the rest of the New Directions seemed to be falling apart a little. I guess having one of the lead singers walk up to one of the others and propose on stage, may have had a little something to do with it.

Yup, you guessed it; Finn's timing had been as bad as always and even though he'd been smart enough to wait until after we'd finished singing before walking up to a stunned Quinn, I guess some of the judges weren't really on board with his idea if you looked at the placement we'd gotten. We had sneaked ahead of Vocal Adrenaline, sure, but really, compared to the train wreck of their lead singer tripping on stage and breaking into tears of fear, muttering about being freaked out by her coaches, it wasn't really that hard to do. But still, we'd beat Vocal Adrenaline and that's how I was spinning it.

"Aw Babe," I smiled softly and enveloped my girl in my arms and shook her a little bit, "we may not have won, but we're still not losers. Be happy, 'cause you damn sure worked your pretty little ass off."

Rach sniffled a little into my shirt, but then nodded into the crook of my neck. "I'll try Noah. Just promise me one thing," she added even as she reached out a tanned leg and tripped Santana as she tore loose from her holders and jumped towards Finn with a battle cry that'd make most men wet themselves, "just do not ever propose to me like that, okay?"

I grinned, not even feeling a little bit afraid of the fact that Rachel seemingly expected us to end up married in the long run, "Fuck no, Babe – The Puckster is way too cool to copy someone else's approach, I swear."

"Good," Rachel smiled, the dark shadows in her eyes gliding away to happiness as she forced the loss of Nationals behind her. "Now let's go save Finn before Santana gets free from Quinn's grip, shall we?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely," I agreed and went to join the fun even as the other, more snobbish choirs looked down their posh noses at us.

TBC…

Chapter Text

EPILOGUE

"Daddy!"

The screech from my six and a half year old daughter resonated through the open door to the school, Rach and I had painstakingly chosen for her. I guess she must have seen me roll up in the car through the window.

Now, normally, Caroline ain't a clingy child; in fact she's damn near too independent for her own good (and my peace of mind), but to be fair, the kid hadn't seen me in three whole days.

So, that's why I only grinned widely at the sound, not cringing like some of the other snobbish looking parents did as they collected their own offspring. I jumped out of my car and ran as fast as I could to meet my little girl halfway, sweeping her up into my arms and twirling around with her like I was some sort of ballet loser who'd just won the lottery or whatever. Point is; I was just as fucking stoked to see my kid as she was to see me.

"Honestly, you two are embarrassing me," another little voice interrupted my reunion with Caroline and we broke out of our hug (I still kept her in my arms though, balanced her on my hip instead), and looked down at who we knew to be Caroline's best friend.

"Aw Eve," I cooed teasingly, "don't you wanna hug Uncle Puck? You're missing a great chance to be spun around, you know."

Eve Fabray Hudson looked conflicted, trying to remain like a proper lady, like her blonde mother, but then her dad's childish side won out and she giggled and held out her arms.

A few minutes later, I was helping two very dizzy little girls into my car and trying not to puke violently in front of them my damn self.

During the ride, I listened contentedly to Caroline's speedy delivery of all the important things I'd missed out on my trip away; apparently, the guy who lived next to us had gotten into another debate with our other neighbor about the fact that he never picked up after his dog on their morning walk and things had almost turned into a good ol' fashioned fight until Caroline had interfered and told them to behave like the grownups they were.

Is she her mom's kid or what? Just sayin'.

Anyway, it didn't last long before we pulled into the driveway to our house and I smiled in greeting at Finn, who was waiting on us on the porch with the bundle in his arms that was his second born child, William( still sucking up to Mr. Shue even after all this time apparently.) He and Quinn were visiting from Washington to help Rach with everything she needed – and the million of little things that she really didn't need help with to be honest..

The girls breezed past us and I leaned up against the doorframe, "So, why are you out here? Banished from the adult conversation?"

"Shut up," Finn shrugged, careful not to jostle the three weeks old babe in his arms. "I needed some air, I mean, if I have to listen to anymore wedding stuff, I'm gonna go nuts. I thought you said you'd tire out Rachel so she didn't get too obsessed again today."

My thoughts drifted to the night before where I'd shown up from my trip a day early, surprising Rach. Let's just say we enjoyed ourselves a hell of a lot and it was only the fact that her agent called and I had to pick up Caroline from school that interrupted us. She's spent the night at a friend's house, thank fuck for her innocence.

"I did my best," was all I said to my friend, not telling him of the rough almost animalistic fucking we'd done on the kitchen table at three in the morning. Noah Puckerman learning subtlety; who'd have guessed?

"Anyway," I changed the subject as I turned around to go inside, "Rach wouldn't be so hung up on a big ass wedding if yours hadn't been so fucking 'glorious'," I threw in some jazz hands at the last word with a smirk.

Finn blushed as he always did when the memory of his wedding came up. He'd never really been allowed to forget that he popped the question on stage at our first Nationals – especially if Santana was around. Quinn had forced him to wait for a reply for ages, citing something about not wanting yet another responsibility thrown upon them while they were still in school. Then, during our senior year and second trip to Nationals (which we didn't win either, but I'll get back to that) Finn had been propositioned by some hot chick in a restaurant while Quinn had been chatting with Rach and Mercedes and his subsequent fierce denial in any interest, 'cause "he had the most amazing woman on the planet already", well…let's just say it really hit home and the next morning they showed up and announced their engagement.

It was so romantic and fluffy that I still get nauseous when I think about it.

Anyway, their wedding had damn near made Kurt wet himself in excitement, eager to plan the perfect wedding for his stepbrother and with Rach in his corner and Dave, who turned out to be a fucking whiz when it came to event planning for some reason, it all got blown way out of proportion and more than half the school had been invited.

And let's not forget the bachelor party, which had resulted in getting Finn so shitfaced that he was dragged into the church and had to be held up by yours truly while he said his vows. Quinn hadn't exactly been thrilled about that.

But still, the wedding had been ginormous and a complete success despite it being two just graduated high school kids that had gotten married. And well…Rach had never really enjoyed playing second to anyone so she was pretty fucking tenacious in her pursuit of a perfect wedding.

I sighed at the thought of going inside and hearing another debate about whether or not roses should be implemented in the dessert or some shit, I mean, who gave a fuck about that as long as the wedding itself happened? I was only putting up with it as nicely as I was 'cause I now had several years of Rachel Berry Crazy under my belt and knew how not to antagonize the beast so to speak.

"Noah! Get in here; I need to measure you again for your tux!" Kurt bellowed in his light voice and this time my sigh turned into a groan. These days Beyonce practically lived with us, fully in agreement with Rach that her wedding should be spectacular. If you ask me, I think the dude is just making me suffer a little more than necessary 'cause of all of the crap I put him through in high school.

Kurt actually lived in L.A these days. He and Dave were still going strong believe it or not. They'd split during college for a while and Kurt had finally let Blaine in, but it didn't last long, 'cause it was clear to anyone with eyes that his heart was still with the less styled choice of guy and after something or other that I don't really give a shit about, they were back on and had been ever since. Dave was an intern at the town's biggest event planner and hoping to move up in the ranks soon. Kurt was a designer with some pretty cool success, which had been kickstarted mostly 'cause of Rach. She'd told some boring fashion designer at an even more boring award show that Kurt Hummel was her personal designer so now I could always count on seeing him around at least two times a month.

It was actually a big ass surprise to me when I thought about it. Not only did I see Kurt and Dave pretty much all the time, but most of the other Gleeks as well. It was like our bond of drama, friendship and hate or whatever you'd call it, had made us unable to get any other real friends. Hell, I went out at least once a month for drinks with Santana, and Azimio, who were going to the same law school and had ended up being best buds.

Sunshine had ended things with Azimio in the middle of senior year when he'd said something stupid about Rach and well, if she hadn't dumped him in such a spectacular way (she got Coach Sylvester involved and that's all I'm gonna say about that), I would've kicked his ass. Anyway, Sunshine never really grew out of her hero worship of Rachel and wound up writing this book that took really well in the lesbian community for some reason and now she's in the middle of writing book number three and negotiating a movie deal for the second one that she won't allow anyone else but Rach to star in.

Sam had turned into my closest friend over the years, never really having forgotten how I hadn't ruined his image back in school. He now travelled around with me and was a member of my band and we were slowly building a rep for ourselves…oh yeah, and Artie was our manager when he wasn't busy trying to become a real movie director.

Mercedes had gone to some fancy art school up north; apparently she was pretty talented, but she never graduated 'cause she met some guy there that knocked her up and left her, so now she's back in Lima, teaching music and assists Coach Sylvester whenever Figgins seems to remember that it's not really okay to have teenage girls break into terror filled sobs whenever their Coach is around. It wasn't the glamorous life she'd wanted, but like Mercedes told me last year when we went home for Thanksgiving; she's still young and there's nothing shameful with being a teacher when you're good at it. Also, she said with a grin as she bounced her little boy, Jack on her knees; McKinley needed some sane teachers for a change.

Mike broke up with Tina after he got into some dance school that made his parents cut him off. He didn't want her to be dragged down with him since she'd been admitted to medical school and it would probably have gone peacefully if he hadn't ended things by screwing one of the junior Cheerios to make sure she got the picture. Anyway, their break ended badly and neither spoke for years until Tina's doctor boyfriend started smacking her around and Tina's fellow med-student; Lauren Zizes of all people found out about it and told the rest of us.

I'd immediately jumped into my beat up truck with a fuming Mike, Sam, Dave and Finn to go take care of that little issue. In the end, it was only Tina's medical knowledge that saved the dude's life and long story short, after a lawsuit and some other shit, Mike and Tina were back in business and stronger than ever.

Brittany had lived with Santana for a few years after high school until she couldn't take Santana's conflicted attitude about her sexuality anymore (San continued to like both sexes) and left to become a vet or something. Instead she was conned into participating in something she'd been told was a rescue of some rich dude's pets, but in reality turned out to be some scheme to kidnap the dude's cats or something. And since Brittany is who she is, she was left behind and accused of everything. It'd been a big deal in the media, but then for some reason, she'd been let off the hook and last thing I heard she and the dude she'd been robbing were dating…and he'd given her a shop where she could babysit his rich friends' pets so I guess it all worked out for her. They were coming for the wedding, so I'd make sure to warn Azimio to keep tabs on Santana, who'd never really gotten over the ditzy blonde.

And since I've told you all about everything that's going on in my old Gleek friends' lives, I gotta tell you about the most important ones. Quinn went to Yale and is currently studying further to be this kickass anthropologist, she's actually really good and is almost guaranteed an internship at the Jeffersonian if things go her way; I really fucking hope they do, 'cause Finn and I can't take any more hero worshipping over this Temperature something woman she wants to work for.

Anyway, Finn's got this job as a mechanic in Washington so she could follow her dream and I guess his thoughtfulness was appreciated very much considering the fact that she got pregnant really fucking fast after they moved there.

I was ripped out of my internal reminiscing of my old friends by a little hand poking me in my stomach. "Daddy! Mommy's waiting; it's not polite to let women wait."

Shaking off my thoughts of everyone that didn't matter as much as the girl in front of me did, I bent down and swooped her into my arms, still happy to see her after my three day tour with Sam. "That's absolutely right, Munchkin," I nuzzled my nose with her. Shut up, it's our thing, all right!

A moment later, I finally stood in front of my soon to be wife, who was looking both amused and slightly annoyed at my tardiness. I just shrugged, 'cause, really, she should know better by now. I love the woman, but when she's in Planning Mode, she's just plain crazy.

Fifteen minutes later, Rachel finished whatever measuring she wanted to do and turned to Quinn to talk wedding shop and I immediately snuck down into the basement to catch up on some of the games I'd missed in my absence, leaving a betrayed looking Finn to give his not really wanted opinions on things I could care less about.

As soon as I turned on the TV, I was met with a newscaster's fake sad smile as she told the world that it would seem that actor slash singer sensation Rachel Berry had been dumped by her less famous boyfriend, Noel Pluckerman, who'd been spotted leaving a bar with an unknown female. A brief scene played out on screen; someone had obviously recorded bits and pieces of Sam's and me's last performance before we left for New York. I saw myself with Sam, grinning wickedly at this hot redhead, who was staring adoringly at us, before I threw my arm around her and we left through the backdoor.

"Well thank fuck she knows how Sam's girlfriend looks like," I muttered with a snort and changed the channel to a game I knew to be playing, happy that Rach knew me enough to know that she was the only woman that I was interested in anymore.

As I watched my team kicking ass, I mulled over the way Rach and me's lives had gone both completely like we'd expected and then not at all after high school.

She'd applied for all the best schools in New York, only to not get accepted into any one of them. Motherhood had really calmed Rach, so instead of falling to pieces and planning revenge and crap, she barely cried; only like a day or two. Anyway, after that, she decided she'd apply for less prestigious schools. And then Nationals happened.

Like I've said before, we didn't win that time either, but it was Mr. Shue's fault this time. Or…well, Mrs. Shue nee Pillsbury. She'd insisted on going with us despite being heavily pregnant and...Well, do I really have to say it?

So, anyway, one good thing that happened during Nationals was the fact that some dude, who worked for some other dude, who made billion dollar movies, heard Rachel singing before things went to shit and fell in love with her on the spot and next thing you know, we were packing up to move to New York where Rach was making a movie that just happened to turn into a mega hit and nearly five years later, she's made a couple of other commercial films and starred in a Broadway show that earned her a Tony nomination and we're only two weeks away from getting hitched.

Life is pretty fucking sweet these days, and sometimes I can't believe it all started with glee club. I mean, how lame does that sound?

THE END…

Chapter Text

PUCK AND THE NEON SUIT

"NOAH PUCKERMAN!"

"Daddy, you's in big twouble." Caroline stated solemnly and I looked down at her as she sat on the couch in the basement of the Berry house, trying her damndest to learn how to play her plastic guitar without bursting any of my eardrums (let's just say I really fucking hoped that she'd inherited her mom's vocal chords, 'cause her chubby little fingers were not meant for guitars...Just sayin'.)

"Maybe Mommy won't be mad at Daddy if you come into my arms and protect me, Munchkin," I said, ignoring the part of me that wanted to cut off my last remaining link to my manhood, 'cause I was way too eager to stop Rach from killing me. I mean, anyone knows that a woman's kid can get her to stop whatever she's doing, right?

"Daddy, you's being stupid. Mommy totally mad…" Caroline looked thoughtful when I tried enticing her by holding out my arms with a beaming, albeit slightly shaky grin, but then the door to the basement slammed open and she grabbed her toy instrument and started trotting over in the opposite corner of the room, while stating unceremoniously, "You's on your own, Daddy."

"Well, thank you so effing much, Sweetie," I murmured to my retreating kid's back. A moment later, I forgot all about my daughter's betrayal as Rach stomped over to me with fire in her eyes, and a crumbled up newspaper in her hand.

Having been with Rach for as long as I had now, I recognized the signs easily and did the only thing I could, letting go of any kind of pride.

"Hi Baby, can I help you?" I smiled softly, trying my hardest to put some of that puppy look in my eyes that usually worked on her when I tried getting my way. Judging from the steely glint in my girl's dark eyes, I was fighting a losing battle. Her next words just confirmed it.

"Quinn just called me."

I gulped (Fuck off, try facing off with my woman like that and you'd be doing the same thing). "Hope she's not too panicky of anything…" I trailed off with a meek smile as the glower on Rachel's face intensified with every word I spoke.

"She told me that you've somehow coerced Finn, her fiancé, mind you, to go to our Prom tonight in that god-awful suit that you've tried getting him into since I don't know when. I'd very much like to know just why my best friend called me to inform me that no matter of threats or pleading from her side seem to sway him; that the only thing he's willing to say when forced is that you are somehow responsible for her plight."

Fucking coward, I thought out to the non present Finn, when I realized he'd all but sold me out to the she-devils of Lima to save his own neck.

"Babe…"

Rach held up a hand in warning, "I do not need to be placated or distracted from my mission as of this time, Noah. Tell me what you were thinking? Finn also muttered something about wearing that suit to our graduation…Do I have to remind you that Quinn is the Valedictorian and has a lot going on right now? Her fiancé's lack of…Well, really Noah, it's just idiotic how much you – and Sam for that matter – seem to be obsessed with that stupid suit and making Finn wear it every year. Now tell me everything before I go upstairs and ask Daddy to lend you his beloved purple polka dotted suit…you know, the one who's got the glittered belt."

Aw fuck, I mentally moaned with growing fear, I knew that horrible excuse of clothing very much – especially since Hiram had pranced around it with a frightening smile of pride when he'd gotten it on his last birthday from his more than a little demented mother, who apparently was blind too, since she'd picked out the damn thing on a shopping trip with her canasta buddies…

"Uhm…Well…" I started, resisting the urge to bite my lips. I mean, showing fear was never a good idea in these circumstances. Finally, when Rachel's left brow raised ominously I just decided to blurt everything out and hope for the best, "'twannaembarrassQuinn."

It took her a few long, tense moments to decipher my words and then Rachel just snapped. She marched up to me and punched my abs, which, okay, didn't exactly hurt, since I was built like a brick (seriously, I'm just that awesome), but it definitely showed her displeasure with me.

Then she opened her mouth and cemented said irritation with me and I tried not to flinch like a little pussy.

"Noah, I can't believe your childish endeavors with Finn keep going so far. This time it's not just him it's hurting, Quinn has a certain dignity to uphold as the key speaker at our graduation and-"

"Well," I began to interject quickly, before she could get too much into her rant, "that's why he's wearing the thing, 'cause he doesn't wanna ruin her day by streaking his lanky, pale ass across the stage as she's giving her speech. He's doing it to be thoughtful."

Rachel rolled her eyes at me, "you're absolutely ridiculous. Do you honestly believe that that thing will be better than the other option? At least if he was running around in his," she glanced at our kid, who was looking between us as if following a tennis match, "'birthday suit', people wouldn't have time to take pictures of it. If he's wearing that suit at, not only graduation, but prom as well, it's inevitable that it'll be photographed endlessly and thus forever captured for remembrance."

Yeah, okay, she kinda had a point there, I realized, but since the bet was already on and I'd fulfilled my part, there was no way in hell that Frankenteen was skipping out on the end just 'cause he was scared to piss off his future missus'.

"What on Earth possessed you to…No, wait, I do not need to know that part," Rachel continued after another lengthy silence, where I could feel my balls shrivel up in fear of never getting near her again if things kept going the way they were. Then I almost groaned when she asked the question I'd really hoped she wouldn't ask.

"What was the bet about since Finn obviously lost?" Her big, brown eyes stared up at me with honest curiosity, her anger momentarily shoved back a bit in her pursuit of knowledge.

I took a deep breath and figured that since Finn had made me out to be the bad guy in all of this, I really didn't owe the dipshit any loyalty. Bros before Hoes, my ass…

"Okay, so what happened was…" I launched my side of the story and hoped that it wouldn't wind up getting me seriously injured or worse, cut off from the beloved Lady Berries in the end. Three minutes later, I finished and just kinda held my breath as I waited for my judgment.

Rachel just stood there without moving, staring deeply into my eyes as she tried to process what I'd just said. Then, as if she'd turned on a switch, Rach just gently rubbed my abs where she'd punched them ineffectually a little while ago and turned to leave.

"Uhm…" I stopped her, even as the once upon non whipped part of me screamed at me to shut the fuck up, "aren't you gonna…like punish me or something?"

Rachel blinked and then shrugged with a small evil smile that (fortunately) wasn't aimed at me. "To be truthful, Noah; I think Finn has made his own bed and now he must lie in it. Now, you'll have to excuse me while I go and call Quinn since there are obviously some details that she's missed out on in this whole story."

A tiny part of me felt a little bit sorry for my childhood friend, but truly, the rest of me was just really fucking happy that the heat was back off of me. So, I just stood there grinning with relief while Rachel disappeared back upstairs, humming a little song under her breath.

"Daddy, you's got to teach me how's to stop Mommy be mad – 'specially after I's don't eat green stuff."

Caroline's voice reached me and I looked down at my little girl, who stood and looked seriously up at me with her beautiful twinkling puppy dog eyes and big horn-rimmed glasses that she's fallen in love with despite the fact they were…well, ugly as shit in my eyes, and really, what could a proud, relieved father say to that, except, "You've got a deal Care Bear."

0o0o0

Not too many hours after that it was time for Senior Prom and the rented limo that Abraham had sprung for stopped in Quinn's driveway to pick her and Finn up. They were our last stop; we'd already picked up Sunshine, Kurt and Dave, Sam and Artie and their dates and Santana and Brittany and Mike, who was with this blond idiotic Cheerio he'd dumped Tina for, for some reason or another (the dude always got really tightlipped whenever I tried getting to the bottom of that story, and tonight wasn't the night to insist upon details anyway). Tina had declined our invitation to carpool, saying she'd get there on her own.

Anyway, Quinn opened the door as soon as we pulled up and Eve ran past her so she could great her most favorite person in the whole world, who of course was yours truly. Then she jumped around and kissed everyone else, except the unfamiliar Cheerio skank and ran back inside, muttering something about her grandma's cookies.

A moment later, Quinn got inside the limo. She looked stunning in this beautiful dark green dress that looked similar to the kickass red one that Rach was wearing to be honest. She sent me this look of mock loathing – or at least, I hoped it was fake, 'cause it looked damn real for a second there. Then she rolled her eyes at Kurt's question of where Finn was and just told us all to wait for it.

Sam and I shared a brief look of unadulterated glee that Rach quickly ended by slapping us both briefly in the back of our heads.

The rest of the people in the car, even the god damned nosy driver snickered a little, but fortunately the arrival of Finn soon ended our embarrassing moment in the limelight.

Well…what can I really say about Finn and the way he looked? The neon suit was actually the most subtle on him. For some reason, he was wearing tiny little ponytails that his shaggy hair just didn't manage to pull off. Also, the style and inconsistent amount of hair and the color of the hair bands kinda told me, the fellow father, that his little girl had had a hand in helping her old man get ready for his big night.

To top everything off, though there were Finn's shoes. I can't really describe the color without cringing so I won't, but let's just say it wasn't pretty and leave it at that. He looked miserable and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I glanced over at a smirking Quinn and Rachel, who both eyed Finn with this evil, almost predatory look and swallowed a lump of Thank-Fuck-I'm-Not-On-Their-Shit-List-This-Time. I loved their additions to Finn's humiliation, don't give me wrong, but when the former Head Bitch in charge and Rachel 'I'm way more evil than you'd think' Berry worked together it was just customary to pity their victim a little.

Five minutes later, we were all off to the Senior Prom and Finn was just sitting quietly in the back, holding Quinn's purse like a good little boy. I couldn't stand the look of misery on his face for long, so after I'd done my duty of capturing every angle of him with my camera phone, I put it away and scooted over to his side, unceremoniously bumping the snorting Cheerio off of Mike's lap in the process (whatever, she was no Tina, so she didn't deserve any kindness – besides I'd let her blow me a couple of times before the baby thing happened and knew she wasn't exactly a prize if you catch my drift.).

"So…regretting the bet now?" I asked quietly as the limo slowly pulled into the parking lot to let us all off.

Finn just sighed and fingered one of his numerous ponytails with a wry look that clearly said, 'what do you think?'

"Well, I hate to say 'I told you so,'" I stated, not entirely truthful, "but well…I really fucking told you so, Dude."

"You shouldn't have told them about it," Finn practically wailed a second later, while everyone but us were busy scampering out the vehicle.

"And you shouldn't have made it seem like it was all my idea," I countered.

"It was a joke!" Finn argued, not even pretending that he was trying to exit the car as I stared at him with narrowed eyes. "How was I supposed to know it'd be blown up like this? Do you even know that Quinn's demanded that I do streak at graduation instead of wearing this…this suit? Apparently, she's totally on Rachel's side and…Dude, I don't want my mom to see me like that! Or Eve!" Finn ended his complaint with a wide-eyed whine that kinda reminded me of Caroline when she tried getting out of her singing lessons with her devoted grandpa Abe.

"You did set the terms for the bet," I reminded him as Rachel's voice called for me from the outside. Finn sighed again and nodded; the very picture of a doomed man.

"I just didn't think the girls would get involved like this," he murmured and twitched one of his long limbs as if he was actually about to get out of the limo. "Their additions to this whole clusterfuck aren't really what I signed up for."

"I know," I agreed and got out of the car before leaning back in and waited until he looked back up at me with a questioning look in his eyes. "But, come on, Dude; betting against me was stupid and you know it. Now man up and get in there and I promise I'll let you get off at graduation if," I paused at the hopeful glint in my friend's eyes, enjoying his torment a little before continuing, "if you can get Quinn and Rach to leave you alone of course."

"I-I can do that," Finn immediately promised, glancing over my shoulder at who I bet was the two we were talking about, "I'll beg Quinn and when she forgives me, she'll work on Rachel and then it'll definitely all be over as long as you don't interfere and you just promised not to and…." Finn stopped as I chuckled at his renewed hope. "What's so funny, Puck?"

"Dude," I grinned and straightened up again, backing away from the limo slowly, "you seem to have forgotten one little, but pretty crucial thing."

Finn frowned and leaned forward as I just kept on walking away, "What's that?"

I looked around the parking lot where there were a lot of Seniors milling about, all ready for a night of fun and shit, before I looked back at Finn. "Well, you still have to get through tonight 'cause I don't think the Senior class of McKinley should be denied the sight of their beloved quarterback looking as fly as you do right now and also," I smirked as I reached a waiting Rachel, who was chatting amiably with Mercedes, who'd apparently just arrived with her date for the evening, "I ain't gonna drop you off at home tonight and tell Eve no one got to see her pretty handiwork."

Finn's moan of displeasure and horror was like music to my ears and with that, I followed my date inside the already packed room. And judging from the deathly silence that was followed by an eruption of laughter a few minutes later, as Finn finally made his way inside, it was gonna be one hell of a night to remember...

THE END

Chapter Text

Puck gets a phone call

"Pumpkin, I hate to say this, but I'm really disappointed in you."

I grinned, even as Rachel's hand smacked me hard in the back of my head in her oh-so-subtle way of reminding me to not be an ass. But come on, the kid couldn't keep up with me despite her Puckerman genes; she was only on her third piece of toast, whereas I'd lost count a little while ago.

The subject of my disappointment merely grinned, 'cause she knew damn well I'd never truly be let down by anything she ever did. Well, if she came home with a scumbag like her mom had done in oh say forty years, I might change my mind, but we'll see.

"Daddy, you's not dis…sa…pointed," she took her time until she got the big word and then continued with a humongous smirk that was all Puckerman. "I'm awesome. Right, Mommy?"

Caroline's brown eyes that were so like my own sparkled up at Rachel, her glasses making it extra cute. And of course, Rach had the same response as she always did when our kid needed her opinion.

"Of course, Sweetie; now eat your breakfast."

I let out a happy sigh, 'cause right then, my life was just pretty fucking perfect. Rach was home for once, she'd finally gotten a day off from the play she was starring in and I loved these 'normal' family mornings we had. It was awesome.

Of course, as always when I dare to actually enjoy my life, something happens and in this case it was a phone call that catapulted me into my newest shitstorm.

"I'll get it Babe," I said, getting up when Rach stood to do it, despite still not having taken one bite of her own breakfast. I grabbed the phone and greeted the caller in my own, shall we say, diplomatic way.

"Why the fuck is whoever you are calling so fucking early?"

"Shut the hell up, Puckerman," said a familiar voice that I couldn't quite place.

"Who's this?" I asked, omitting the curse after a cutting glare from Rachel at my earlier slip. Really, she should give up trying to limit Caroline's exposure to such things, 'cause just the other day, I'd seen the little munchkin curse like a fucking sailor, when she'd gotten her finger slammed in the door to her room.

"It's Lauren Zizes, Asswipe," Lauren kindly told me, and I grinned, 'cause I kinda liked the chick now that she'd gotten over her Puckerman obsession however understandable it was. "I need to tell you something and you need to shut up and listen to every word, 'cause I'm late for rounds as it is and I can't not tell you. At least, you're man enough to do something about this shit."

"Zizes, not that I love a longwinded explanation in the morning," I drawled, smirking slightly, "but get the hel-heck on with it so we can get on with our lives."

Lauren started speaking rapidly, and I quickly lost my smirk and judging from the narrowed eyes that Rachel sent my way, I wasn't looking too happy. But damn it, from what I'd just heard it was a miracle that I wasn't roaring in anger.

A minute later, Lauren finished her story and I just said four words, in a rough tone of voice, "Leave it to me."

I slammed the phone back down on the table and quickly set to work.

"Noah, what's wrong?" Rachel followed me as I rummaged through a drawer in the kitchen where I quickly found my retired set of brass knuckles (one can never be too prepared in case of unwanted visitors, so I kinda kept them around; don't judge).

"I'll tell you later," I promised, not really about to say anything with Caroline watching me so intently. Of course, Rachel solved that little quandary by guessing my thoughts and kindly told our kid to go watch cartoons while we had a grown up talk.

A moment later, I had finished my frantic preparations and turned to the patient girl I loved, even when she was being nosy and frustrating like right now. "Look, I swear I'll tell you everything later, but I don't have a lot of time, I gotta go. I'll be back in a few days, call your dads and ask if they'll look after Caroline when you're working, okay?"

Rachel bit her lip, but seemed to understand that I wasn't messing around. "Just tell me a little bit, please, Noah. I deserve that much given your rather abrupt reaction to a simple phone call."

With a weary sigh, and a hand through my shaved head, I told her. "Tina's boyfriend smacks her around and she's too scared to leave."

Rachel blinked and in the next instant, I was reminded just what a fiercely protective girl I had, "Go kick his ass, Noah." And then she added sounding a bit more like herself, "but please refrain from getting arrested, as I doubt it'd do any of us any good."

I grinned briefly, grabbed my cell phone and kissed her cheek before quickly leaving to gather up enforcements.

0o0o0

It took me a while, but finally, I was on my way to Tina's with a few unexpected additions. First, I'd called Mike and let me tell ya, the silence in the other end when I'd finished my news was more telling than a thousand page book. If I wasn't already fully determined to bring the pain to Tina's doctor boyfriend, I'd pity the ass a little.

Anyway, we could barely fit in my old truck, 'cause not only did Mike come along, but apparently Sam had been with him when I'd called him and claimed dibs on going too. Then I called Finn, figuring that the dude's freakishly big physique would scare the crap outta the dude smacking chicks around, only to realize when we stopped in front of his place that Dave was waiting right next to him.

Evidently, he'd been visiting the Fabray-Hudson apartment with Kurt, with whom he'd just reunited with after a lengthy breakup and, like Sam, decided to tag along. I didn't care, 'cause I knew from my old man just what kind of reaction Tina's partner would have when we all pulled up, ready to beat him down. I kinda hoped he'd piss himself to be honest.

Anyway, I pushed my old truck to its limits and after what seemed like forever, but was only a few hours in reality, we reached our destination. Lauren had texted me the violent doctor's address on the way and from her we knew that he'd taken a sick day – probably to take care of the newest injuries he'd dealt Tina.

My brass knuckle clad fists were clenched and I was scowling furiously after we'd rung the doorbell to his little, admittedly cool looking house, but I didn't get a chance to do more than catch a glimpse of a pasty, decent looking dude, before something blurred past me and slammed into him with enormous force.

The next couple of minutes soundly reminded me just why I shied away from ever truly fighting Mike Chang. The Dude was ferocious and what got to me – and the other guys too, I'd imagine – was the fact that while he was wailing on the now bleeding doctor, who was screaming for forgiveness, Mike didn't make a sound.

I have no doubt that if allowed to continue, Mike would kill the bastard and I couldn't let that happen; Rachel's words of not getting arrested echoing in my mind, keeping me sane from the bloodlust that seemed to have possessed the gruesome smirking faces of my friends.

"Mike, stop it," I ordered, risking my life a moment later, when it became clear that the furious Asian killing machine wasn't gonna listen to me. I ran to him and barely dodged a spinning kick and somehow managed to grab him and slam him into the ground right next to the now weeping, bleeding doctor, crying for mercy.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," the miserable abuser blubbered at me, and I rolled my eyes, not at all impressed by him.

"Shut up, I didn't do it for you." I told him and tried my hardest to keep Mike from escaping from my arms. The others finally seemed to snap out of their stupor and joined me in trying to calm the furious Mike down enough to let him go.

In the end, it wasn't any of us that managed to do that, all I got from my troubles was a split lip and in Sam's case a bloody nose.

"M-Mike?"

We all froze, even the crying mess who'd started everything, and looked up at Tina, who was standing on the stairs looking down at us with confusion and something that really looked like hope to me.

I released Mike in my shock at the sight of her; Tina's bare arms were covered in bruises and she had two black eyes and a bandage over her nose that reminded me of the time when Rach had broken hers. Fuck, that fucker had really done a number on her.

I didn't even realize that I'd let go of Mike, too caught up in forcing my rekindled anger at Tina's boyfriend down before I took over from Mike. Fortunately for all of us, Mike didn't jump back into killing mode, no; instead, he slowly stood up, suddenly looking anguished and embarrassed too for some reason.

It was only when he started almost frantically wiping his bloodied knuckles on his shirt that I sort of got why he was embarrassed of all things. His next words only confirmed my suspicions, "I'm sorry…I didn't…You shouldn't have to see me like this…Oh my God, Baby what's he done to you?"

Tina flinched when Mike started moving towards her and that's when we all got a bit of understanding for just how much she'd been hurt since we'd last seen her. She hadn't even been so timid when she'd faked her stutter back in school.

Mike approached her like she was a wild animal and before long she was sobbing into his shirt, seemingly not caring about the blood. I just stood there with the other guys and watched them with a small smile on my lips; a small part of me was remembering the times I'd stopped my father when he'd gotten drunk and my desperate hope that someone, anyone would come, just like today and put an end to it, but I was happy to see Tina saved at least.

It was only an odd, gurgling sound that made me look down at the injured man on the floor and thank fuck I did that, 'cause the dude was turning blue.

"A little help here!" I yelled and the next hour was dominated by a suddenly very strong looking Tina, doing her damndest to save the life of the guy who'd hurt her and when the ambulance took him away, Mike and Tina were seemingly reunited and now all we had to do was try and convince the cops that Mike didn't deserve jail time.

With a sigh, I pulled out my phone and called Abraham, 'cause there was no one that could get me out of trouble quite like him…

0o0o0

"So you're saying that Michael only ended his relationship with Tina in the first place to…to allow her to follow her dream of becoming a doctor?" Rachel was lying on her side on our bed, facing me with a troubled look in her dark eyes.

"Yeah, that's pretty much why. I'm not saying it was a smart move, but I guess he didn't want her to choose him and follow him when he went to his school in the other end of the country – especially after that douchy move that his parents made."

Rachel, who, like me, remembered the devastation that had shone through Mike's eyes the day he'd announced to us all that his parents didn't want him to pursue his dreams of dancing anymore and when he'd refused to fall in line, he'd been cut off. Mike had joined the ever growing line of people, who'd spent a little time living in the Berry house because of that maneuver.

"So…" she murmured, burrowing her face into the crook of my neck with a sigh, "he knew Tina was just as loyal to him as he was to her and decided to, and I'm using one of your crude expressions here, Noah, 'bang some broad good' thus cutting off all of Tina's affections in one clean stroke."

"Yup," I nodded and grabbed her tighter to me, feeling extremely exhausted after the last few days.

Somehow, don't ask me exactly how, but Abraham had come through for us all and Tina's former boyfriend hadn't pressed charges; I guess he knew he'd be facing jail too for what he'd done and didn't want to risk running into Mike in there. I can't say that I blame the guy for choosing the safer option.

Anyway, Tina had been the one to press charges instead and with the numerous evidence that she had on her body, we'd come off golden and Mike had stayed behind when me, Sam, Finn and Dave had left. Something told me that the Asian Fusion from High School was back in business and more…err…fused than ever.

So, here I was; finally lying next to Rachel and just really fucking relieved that we never had to worry about stuff like what Tina and in some aspect I had lived through. I hoped at least…

"Don't think too much about it," Rachel muttered in my ear, knowing me well enough to see that I was reliving some pretty messed up memories. "Our family won't ever experience things like that."

For some reason I couldn't help but ask her a question as we laid there, content in each other's embrace. "How can you be sure?"

"Because I know you, Noah and there's not a single part of me that have ever or will ever think you capable of spousal abuse. You're not your father."

She'd done it again for the nth time. Rachel cut through my unvoiced insecurities with a precision like a fucking surgeon and I found myself grinning down at her; free of a burden I hadn't quite realized that I was carrying around.

"Thanks Babe," I kissed the top of her head and grinned when, after my obligatory boob grab, Rachel smacked my arm harshly and told me to go to sleep.

"Hey, maybe I should be worried about you being the violent one?" I teased and then I broke out into a full blown laughter when a moment later, Rachel had rolled herself on top of me and banged a fluffy pillow in my face.

It could've escalated into a full-blown pillow fight, I'm sure; you know…if not for the fact that I got so fucking turned on that I yanked the pillow right out of her hands and rolled us back around and proceeded to do a hell of a lot more than a simple boob grab.

THE END

Chapter Text

Puck really enjoys making up

"Whoa Dog, look at that hot piece of ass!"

A wolf-whistle pierced through the early morning air, and I wanted to punch the snot nosed brats that had no respect for…well, me, but I settled for baring my teeth at them and they quickly backed off.

Oh yeah, I still had it.

A moment later, though, I had to fight off a primitive urge to go after the three dudes and kick their asses when I realized just who they'd slobbered after.

"Good morning, Noah," Rachel's melodic voice managed to calm me as she slowed to a stop in front of me with a beaming smile on her luscious lips. "You forgot your lunch this morning, and Daddy really wants your opinion on his new sandwich recipe, so naturally I volunteered to assist him in his endeavor to deliver it to you in a timely fashion."

Grinning, I bent down and planted a big, wet kiss on her lips in thanks – the fact that the idiots from before were standing over by the nearest building eying us with wide eyes had nothing to do with it…really. Then I grabbed the packed lunch and couldn't resist looking into it. The scent of meat and cheese hit my nostrils and I damn near salivated while muttering, "Score." Hiram must really love me to give me a sandwich with meat in it.

Rachel rolled her eyes at me. "Really, Noah; one would think that you starved on a regular basis despite the fact that your calorie intake is enough to feed a small village in Africa."

"I'm a growing boy," I defended myself; fighting off the urge to wolf down the heavenly sandwich that Hiram had made for me. Rachel eyed my bulging arms, and I suddenly had to repress a whole new set of urges.

"Well…that I cannot deny," she said primly, a tiny flush in her cheeks revealing that she was totally just checking me out. I didn't mind at all; I am hot after all.

"So," I said, deciding to save our carnal activities for later, "not that I'm not stoked to see you, Babe, but I thought you had rehearsal today?"

Rach smiled softly and grabbed my arm in that way she always did; making me feel more like a gentleman than the caveman I usually acted like. "I received a text message halfway to the set, informing me that my schedule has been pushed to tomorrow due to a fellow actor's actions."

I grinned, "So he showed up drunk again, huh?"

The small shrug was answer enough, so I just started walking toward the building where I had to finish my first job of the day. Before you ask what my job is, I can honestly say that it's just a way to make some money for our move to New York.

I was a janitor, or well, an assistant janitor to be precise, but the dude I worked under was an overweight lazy ass fucker that barely managed to wipe his own ass without losing his breath, so I pretty much did everything around there.

Anyway, while I worked there, Rach was working on her first ever movie. Some rich dude had seen her during Nationals earlier this year and fallen head over heels with her undeniable talent and after a few auditions she'd landed a small part in his friend's million dollar movie.

The summer after graduation from McKinley had never gone so fast in my life before. When I wasn't working or sexing up my gorgeous girl, I was hanging out with Caroline and looking for affordable places to live in New York this upcoming fall.

Even though it was kinda exhausting and I really wanted to relax from time to time, things were awesome. Caroline was growing up fast, getting more and more beautiful every day, and I'd even had to scare off her first suitor already. Sure, the kid was like three years old and after thinking about it, I'm not entirely sure he wasn't just trying to walk past her to his mom, but still; better to be safe than sorry, I always say.

"Noah?"

Rachel's voice brought me back to the present, and I looked down at her with a smile that was in no way dopey…it wasn't.

"As interesting as spending the entire day with you at work would no doubt be, I'm positive that your usual work ethic would suffer, so I'm going to head home and continue packing our things. When you get home, Dad has promised to drive us all to the beach for a day of innocent fun."

"Sweet," I grinned and quickly pecked her lips before hurrying inside the building to do my job as fast as possible while images of Rach in a bikini flowed through my mind.

We were just so fucking happy and I knew that living in New York was gonna be a piece of cake too.

0o0o0

"Dammit, Rach!" I growled, kicking her discarded shoulder bag so hard that it flew into the opposite wall with a satisfying thump. I hoped I broke some of her endless junk.

I fell into our couch, the one Rach had spent hours haggling about in some second hand store before finally wearing the salesman down. It was butt ugly and the print was faded and worn with age, but it was really comfortable, and after the day I'd had, I needed comfortable.

Of course, the tiny brunette standing in the doorway to our daughter's bedroom; and subsequently the small apartment's only bedroom, didn't seem to care that I'd just worked my ass off and needed peace and above all quiet.

"Noah! I cannot believe you. Ruining my personal effects is in no way acceptable behavior just because I told you I'm going to a social event!"

I rolled my eyes, and turned on the small TV in front of me. "Don't talk to me like I'm a fucking kid, I got no need for lectures, right now, Rachel."

Rachel's huff clearly told me she disagreed, and a moment later, she stepped in front of the TV with every intention of destroying what was left of my night.

"I'm only relieved that Caroline is spending the week at Dad and Daddy; your brute ways would definitely scar her psyche and to be honest I'm shocked you'd act like this given your upbringing—"

"Don't you fucking dare blame everything on me, Little Lady," I sneered, standing up to my full height now that Rach had laid down the gauntlet so to speak. I was so fucking ready to snap that it was ridiculous!

"I'm the one who's been here every single day, taking care of that kid. I'm the one who's been comforting her when she cries for you! I get her ready for the day, take care of everything at home and manage to hold up at deadbeat job at the same time. You, on the other hand, are out partying. Oh, "I held up a hand and smiled mockingly, "I apologize, I believe the term you use is 'socializing and letting yourself be seen'. Of course, that means it's completely cool of you to spend hundreds of dollars on some skimpy ass dress that'll get some slimy director's attention while I struggle to make ends meet back here to feed our kid and get her the dance classes she wants to go to!"

I let out a deep breath as my words rang silently in the room; damn, I'd been holding that in for what felt like forever. Rach and I had been living in New York almost a year to the day. At first it'd been fine; good even. Then slowly it had transformed into something hard. She spent more and more time away from home and what a shitty home it was. We were both too fucking stubborn to accept any monetary help from her dads, and my job at a fucking fastfood joint didn't pay all that much.

These days all I did was work, I was barely able to take the time to play with my kid. She was not even four years old yet, but with all the time she spent helping me keep the apartment livable, she acted twice her age. I hated myself for letting her help me on most days, but I was just so stressed for time that I couldn't not let her help with what she could.

Rachel's brown eyes were bright with tears as we just both stood there, staring at each other. "N-Noah…" she began, but I just sighed and turned to grab my coat.

"I'm too fucking beat to have this talk again," I announced. "I'm gonna go look for another job, and we'll talk or whatever later."

With that, I closed the door after me, making sure it was locked safely. I was pissed at Rach sure, but that didn't mean, I wasn't gonna make sure she was safe either. The next couple of hours I spent trolling the neighborhood for any and all kinds of jobs. I wasn't about to be picky, I just needed some cash. Hell, I'd even sunk so low last month that I'd sold some of my own blood to make sure Caroline got some new shoes.

Finally, some good looking middle-aged broad, Suzette, gave me a chance and I got a part time job cleaning in her bar on the weekends. After that I spent another few hours just walking around, taking in the sights. When I reached Central Park, I couldn't help but smile nostalgically at the memory of my first Nationals. Rach had looked so fucking happy to be here that she probably could've lit up the sun for a week.

Lately, she'd been just as weary as me and I knew it was mostly 'cause of me. I sat down on a bench with a small groan. I couldn't believe I'd said those things to my girlfriend; the wounded look in Rachel's eyes was burning in my mind and the guilt was beginning to gnaw at me now that the anger was used up. I was just so fucking tired of all the fights and everything.

This was not the way I'd pictured our New York adventure. At first I'd been just as stoked as she was whenever she came dancing into the apartment to hug me with news of meeting this or that person. Now I usually just grunted a barely verbal congratulation before turning to my next task at hand.

If I had to be totally honest with myself, I'd slowly begun to realize that despite our love, and even though we had Caroline, there was a very real chance that Rachel would finally see just how beneath her she'd chosen; that I wasn't worth her time and I guess my unspoken fears made me a really unpleasant and jealous asshole.

But still, I tried rationalizing with myself as I stood up to go back home, I wasn't completely wrong in what I said. Rachel had been leaving me with all the day to day stuff – making me work myself to the bone while she was out showing skin for the chance to follow up on her last movie.

The thoughts were still tumbling around inside my head when I eventually placed my key in the door and entered our apartment. I wasn't prepared for the sight that met me when I looked around the room.

Everything was completely spotless, the place had never looked better and sitting on the couch was a pale looking Rachel, who, if memory served me, was supposed to be at some fancy cocktail party right about now. It was one of the reasons I'd deemed it safe to return, I really wasn't up for round two.

"Welcome back, Noah." Rachel greeted me quietly, eying me with a weird, almost frightened look in her eyes that made me feel like the biggest shit ever, 'cause there was no way I'd ever want to see the girl I loved afraid of me. I wasn't my old man!

Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I slowly walked over and sat down next to her on the couch. "Hey," I murmured tiredly.

"So I think we really need to talk," Rachel announced after a long, tense moment of silence.

"Yeah, I guess so." I said, running a hand through my no longer there 'hawk.

"Before we address our actions as of late," Rachel began, "I need to know that you have no intention of giving up on this relationship; that you're not planning on leaving me."

"What?" I quickly leaned forward and grabbed her small, unusually cold hands in mine, "Fuck no am I leaving you. I was wracking my brain trying to ask you the same thing."

Rachel looked downright shocked at my words and mirrored my movements, leaning forward eagerly. "I have no intention of ever leaving you, Noah. Despite what it seems like I love you! After you left I began thinking about what you said and realized that every word was true. I'm a terrible mother and girlfriend."

"No, you're not," I cut her off before she really got going. "You're a kickass mom and I acted like an idiot, so you shouldn't worry about anything. We're gonna get through this; you warned me repeatedly before we moved here that things were gonna be rough for a little while. I was just having a pansy ass moment and I took it out on you and I'm—"

"Don't you dare apologize to me, Noah Puckerman." Rachel's voice was firm and the grip she had of my hands was even firmer. "Every word you spoke was nothing but the truth. Admittedly, it was delivered rather harshly, but that doesn't make it any less true. I haven't been pulling my weight in this relationship; the last time I sat down and spent some time with Caroline before she went to bed was so long ago that I barely remember it. Also," her eyes looked down bashfully before looking back up with visible effort, "it's been far too long since we've made love."

"Babe…" I honestly didn't know what to say, so I just trailed off and waited to see if she had anything else to say.

"Noah, I admit that I was frustrated when you left earlier, but when I realized that you weren't going out to partake in mindless drinking and such, opting instead to go look for another job, so I could still go to auditions and stuff like that, I felt so ashamed. You've lost weight, and you look so exhausted, Sweetie and I cannot believe that I've let things get this bad, but I promise you that it's going to stop right now. I'm cutting down on my time away from home; I'll even try to get a job as a waitress at that diner that I know that several of people from the industry favor."

"I don't wanna be the guy that stops you from getting your dreams," I murmured, the small hope battling with the guilt inside of me.

Rachel reached out and touched my cheek, and I leaned into her touch like a flower leaned into a streak of sunlight on a rainy day. Yeah, apparently, I was still a major pussy when it came to my girl's touch, so what?

"You won't be, Noah. You'll be the guy that supports me and keeps me grounded at the same time, because…" She bit her lip and looked away and I gently took her chin and turned her face back towards me.

"'cause?"

Rachel's eyes were brimming with tears, and I had a feeling that she felt just as relieved as I did to just get things out in the open at long last. I smiled encouragingly and she whispered intently, staring straight into my eyes.

"Don't you know Noah that none of my dreams would be worth losing my family over? I'd give that up a million times before I'd risk losing you. I love you."

Fuck, my heart suddenly decided to beat like a mile a minute, and I blinked abruptly 'cause the burn in my eyes wasn't gonna turn into tears. I wasn't Finn after all. Finally, when I felt more in control of myself again, I leaned forward and gently kissed Rach with all the feeling that I had.

It started out gently enough, but after about thirty seconds of soft kissing, I don't know what got into Rach, 'cause next thing I know we were on the spotless floor, and she was pulling down my zipper with an eagerness that made her look a little deranged. It was fucking hot is what it was.

A moment later, we both groaned loudly as she sank down on me and started moving her hips in that special way only she knew how to, and I was bucking under her like a young…err, buck, almost as crazed as she was in my movements.

If it hadn't been like six weeks since the last time I'd been inside of her, I'd probably have been embarrassed over how quick I exploded inside of her, but fortunately Rach was right there with me, moaning my name as she flexed all around my dick, milking me for all I was worth.

I've said it before, but I'm more than happy to say it again; make up sex is hot.

0o0o0

Our problems didn't just magically disappear 'cause of a little chat and a good fuck, but things got better and we were way better at voicing our issues before they transformed into massive problems that ended with screaming and tears.

A few months later, things started to change in a good way; Rach came home one evening after a shift at the diner where she now worked and announced that some Andrew Lord of Webs or something had showed up and she'd forced him into listening to him and he was giving her a shot. I doubt anyone else but Rachel Berry could've forced the dude to do that. I was so fucking proud of her that I was about to burst.

Not too long after that, Rach was finally on stage doing what she loved the most, and we were out of that shitty apartment we'd called home for a year, and my second job at Suzette's had expanded into something better too. After overhearing me play my guitar on a break one evening, she'd all but forced me to audition for her and I was now performing on her tiny stage twice a week and slowly getting my name out there. I'd called Sam to ask if he'd be interested in doing some music together and he was finalizing shit to move to New York so we could actually do it instead of just dreaming about it.

So, yeah, bottom line; things weren't always easy, but now we knew that we were able to handle the bad times together too and that was kinda worth the crappy year we'd had to find that out.

Chapter Text

PUCK HULKS OUT...AGAIN

"In other news: Super-singer, Grammy-award winner and overall hottie Noah Puckerman is in deep trouble today where he apparently rushed to the defense of his long time mistress at the high school where she's attending. We haven't been able to get many facts from anyone, but a witness says that Puckerman, "kicked ass and took names." At this point in time it's unclear if the victims – yeah, there were more than one – will press charges. If worse comes to worst, we may have another celebrity going to jail…but," here the woman couldn't quite keep the evil glee out of her voice, "with our star's record of underage drinking and drug-use, it may not be a slap-on-the-wrist- sentence like most stars get away with. We've been unable to get a comment from Puckerman's wife, Rachel Berry, but sources say she's not taking the news of her husband's infidelity well and have been put on suicide watch by her agent. Tune in next time to hear more!"

I cringed as the bubbly "news-caster" finished her bit and the channel got to commercials. Swallowing bile, I leaned back in the comfy chair, trying to be happy for the fact that the two guys that were supposed to take me to the holding cell were big fans and had allowed me some semblance of privacy in the tiny office their secretary normally used.

Judging from the huge-ass TV and multiple glossy magazines lying everywhere, I'd say those two dudes weren't the only fans…

It was kinda hard to see the bright side of anything right then, though. Sighing, I got to my feet and made my way over to the small window from where I could hear screaming, chanting and overall chaos. A quick look through the blinds told me everything I already knew. My fans were gathered to show me their support, while Rach's fans were there to curse my name and that wasn't good for the continued peace, you know?

I had half a mind to go out there and stop things before they could escalate, but to be honest, I was pretty fucking sure I'd be lynched by Rachel's fans before the first words even left my mouth.

"You know," a familiar voice distracted me from visions of my coming death, and I was trapped in a mix between a sheepish grin and a pleading stance that screamed innocence, "when my assistant got the first call, asking her if she knew anything about my upcoming divorce, I rolled my eyes because that's a pretty normal day for me. Especially when you've been away on tour. Then," I watched in growing horror as Rachel's tiny, manicured hand pointed at me, half-expecting bullets to shoot out of her fingers, "when the second, third and let's just say twelfth call came in a matter of fifteen minutes, I realized that something was amiss."

Rachel came into the office, closing the door behind her, while expertly ignoring the gawping officers and criminals in the other room, "I had no idea though, that you were reigniting your devotion to teenage girls. You should have said something, my dear, I am after all an award winning actress and I am sure that my acting could have been put to use with a bit of role-playing – as has happened in the past, if you recall?"

Hearing this, memories flashed through me – wonderful memories, to be exact. I couldn't stop the growing smirk on my face even if I wanted too. If she was mentioning times of past exploits, as she'd say, she couldn't be too mad at me.

Except, a part of me whispered, the part of me that had lived through Rachel's two pregnancies, she could be luring me into a safe sense of peace, so I better watch the hell out for anything. She's crazy after all!

Before Rach got a chance to even say one more word, I held out my arms and put on the most pathetic expression I had in my arsenal, hoping it'd give me enough time to explain everything.

"It's a long story, Baby, but you know I'd never look at another woman no matter how hot she is. Besides," I took a chance and broke character long enough to smirk lustily at her, "nobody rocks knee-socks quite like you, Babe."

There was a long pause, where I felt like she was getting ready to tell me whether or not she was gonna cut off my balls, and then she smiled a little and I was able to breathe again.

"All right, Noah – give me the story then, before I hear another massacred version of it on the news." I grinned and gestured for her to sit down.

"Well, first of all," I said when we were both comfortable, "I guess you could say it all started with a phone call."

"Okay," Rachel nodded and leaned back in her seat, while I took a deep breath and began my story with the phone call I'd gotten some odd hours ago.

0o0o0

"It's about your daughter, Sir."

Okay, so there's a few sentences that I automatically react to; Rach in any kind of danger or shit like that, rumors that our marriage is falling apart, and other stuff that anyone probably does too.

But, and I know this is completely stupid in hindsight, but, when it involves my kids I freeze. My mind goes totally blank for a second while my imagination somehow manages to put up all possible and impossible scenarios.

"Sir?" The voice on the phone asked again, this time sounding a little worried.

"Yeah, I'm still here," I replied hoarsely, clearing my throat to get my act together again. "What's up with Caroline?"

There was a slight pause, and if I hadn't been with Rach for so long, listening to her lectures of maturity and good behavior, I may have said or done something my McKinley High-self used to do a lot. One hint, it involved a lot of cussing and maybe a little pain after I'd tracked the motherfucker I was looking for down…

The squeaky male voice of Caroline's principal spoke again and distracted me from visions of mayhem and hurt. "She is at the nurse's office right now, and she wanted us to not involve you or your wife, but—"

"What the fuck do you mean, she's at the nurse's office?" I bellowed, standing up from the couch where I'd been sitting and watching some sports to chill after a pretty long night, "She better be okay, or I will ruin you – not only that, but I'll take my wife with me and I think you remember what happened when you two last met, right?"

There was a small squeak on the line, and if I hadn't been so worried and pissed off, I would've laughed. About the time where the two of them had last met, Rach had been six months pregnant with our twin boys and let's just say her crazy was a lot more profound during that pregnancy. I later heard from Caroline that he'd been sick the following week after meeting my tiny wife for twenty minutes.

His voice brought me out of the memory, and the split second of happiness the fond memory had given me vanished in a blink of an eye.

"There have been rumors of course, but Miss Puckerman has denied it vehemently and since the witnesses never went public nor uploaded on that Facetweeter-thing I honestly couldn't pursue it…"

"Pursue what?" I had to use all my energy on asking nicely, but then was all for nothing a moment later, when the asshat continued explaining instead of just getting to the fucking point of things.

"To be quite honest, Sir, your daughter is quite capable of handling such things if I had to judge from previous meetings; in fact, she's quite like your l-lovely wife."

"Handling what?" This time I couldn't repress the half-growl that followed my question, being on the edge as I was, and fortunately for this dude's further health he seemed to hear it in my voice so he finally cut to the chase.

"I believe that Miss Puckerman is being bullied by her peers, Sir."

"I'll be right there." I hung up, didn't even give the principal of her school the chance to put in his two cents. A second later, I called our nanny, Barbra downstairs to let her know I was gonna go out for a little while, and then I left to show whomever those punks that were after my daughter just who they were fucking with!

0o0o0

On the ten minute drive to Caroline's high school (yeah, I can't believe she's a freshman either, believe me!), my mind was busy running through every scenario of every bully experience I'd ever lived through…Okay, so we all know I usually started those scenarios, but that was Before Rachel.

I parked haphazardly, taking the spot that someone else in a red Porsche seemed to want. Well, tough luck, I didn't give a shit whose rich daddy's boy's spot I was stealing, I was on a mission.

"Hey Asshole," some wanna-be tough guy growled at me, when I jumped out of my truck – not the same beat up ol' crap from my school days, if you were wondering, I'm not Bella fucking Swan… "Who the hell do you think you a…."

I smirked as he abruptly stopped talking the second I turned around to face him. Apparently, he was a fan. I gave him a brief once-over, he was a miniature me to be honest, from when I went to high school; all leathers and muscles, although he wasn't rocking a 'hawk like I used to, so I couldn't respect him for acting like a…Well, a younger me.

"You were sayin', Bro," I asked with the fakest smile ever, it was one I'd cultivated when Caroline started looking at boys last year. For some reason the one guy she'd dared to take into my house had more or less crapped his pants at the sight of it, and was never seen again so I kept using it when it was needed.

Judging from the half-step the kid in front of me took backwards, it was still working fine, so I just shrugged and turned back with a "nice talking to ya, Kid," before all but running toward the building that I knew was where the nurse's office was.

What? Sue me for having checked that shit out as soon as Rach told me this was my daughter's future school. Yeah, okay, so it may have been a little excessive when you think about the fact that I cased the place out when Caroline was in the fifth grade, but...You know what? This is not the time.

A moment later, I reached the place where I knew the school's infirmary lay and burst through the door, only to stop mechanically when I saw my tiny Caroline crying.

Now, there's one thing that's always reminded me that my little girl is in fact my little girl, and that is that she is tough as nails and never cries…you know, aside from sad movies and shit, but come on, even I had to wipe a tear away when I saw Titanic for the first time.

She never cries for real, not even when she accidentally stepped on a nail a few years ago when we were remodeling our main house in L.A. She screamed like a banshee and punched the first worker that tried to take it back out, but she didn't cry.

So, seeing her like that in the middle of her school, in public, was a brutal eye-opener that more or less had me prepared to commit homicide.

"Hey Sweetie," I announced myself and stepped fully inside the room. The nurse, who was a kinda hot for a school's nurse eyed me like a piece of meat and lost any and all interest in my weeping child. I got that, 'cause even though I'm thirty-two, I'm hotter than ever, thank you very much, but I didn't appreciate the whole ignoring my hurting child and I let that be known with the meanest glare I had in my arsenal.

"D-Dad!" Caroline all but screeched, expertly pretending that the blushing nurse hadn't just escaped my wrath by running to the other end of the room with a muttered excuse of doing inventory or some crap like that. "What the hell are you doing here? I told them not to call you! I will definitely show them that—"

"Okay, first of all," I held up a hand, cutting right through Caroline's words, "drop the 'tude, Girl, you're not your mother and can't pull it off as well as she can. Second of all, kinda bummed you're not happier to see me, considering I've been on tour with Sam, promoting the new album for the last two weeks and thirdly, I'm your fucking father so of course that shithead of a principal had to call me!"

There was an awkward pause 'cause it was rare as fuck that I ever raised my voice at her. She was my little girl and she knew just how to wrap me around her fingers. But then again, all my kids had that ability…

Anyway, after a little while, I cleared my throat and sat down on the cot next to her, placing my arm around her tenderly. "Come on, Munchkin, tell me what's wrong and I'll make it better, I promise."

Caroline held up her aloof and distant persona for a few more minutes, but when I reached over and pushed her glasses up her nose before they fell off, she seemed to break and a second later, I had my arms full of a crying, sobbing Puckerman, whose power to be dramatic was wholly and undisputedly from her mother's side of the family.

"D-Daddy!" she wailed, and my heart immediately constricted; she'd stopped calling me that in public years ago, and only used it these days to get things from me, in particular when the subject of a car came up, but her using it now only cemented one thing for me. Someone was going down, preferably with broken bones and a butt load of pain in the process.

It took me a while to get her talking, but when Caroline finally told me, some part of me wanted to go to the past and whoop my own ass, 'cause indirectly I was kinda responsible for my child's hurting.

Evidently, good bully methods travelled fast and long with a little help from Sam and me talking about our school experience in interviews, the whole slushie-thing had taken off like nothing else. Caroline had gotten her first slushie two weeks into her school year, and it was apparently 'cause she wasn't as cool as some other kids wanted her to be.

I totally resented that. Anything coming from my loins was cool by association, thank you very much. I did, however, manage to swallow that statement when Caroline continued saying that after she'd kicked one of the instigators in the shin two days prior, things had only gotten worse.

"Now there's not so much slushie involved anymore," she hiccupped, finally getting herself under control again. She tried to sit back up, but I only tightened my grip until she realized just how silly that idea was and she continued tiredly, "And I've gotten gross things shoved in my locker, I spent two periods in my gym locker yesterday, when one girl, who's Jimmy's current flavor of the week – Jimmy's the main bully," she explained at my confused frown and finished, "she pushed me in there and threw my clothes in the toilet. I guess I just couldn't take it anymore today when one of them held me down in the parking lot and began cutting my hair off. I flipped out loud enough for a teacher to notice and well…here we are."

"And you've had to listen to a lot of serious fucked up comments about your parents – Don't even try to cover that crap up," an unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded, and my muscles instinctively tensed as I turned my head to look at the speaker.

It was a tall, skinny black girl, who actually seemed like she was a mix between an über geek with her braids and braces and a tough chick with the Goth make-up and bling on her. She kinda reminded me of Tina for a second, before she turned into a boring ass housewife, stuck in the seventies clothing-wise.

The girl looked at me with a brow raised and I realized belatedly that she'd been waiting for a reply. "Uhm," I coughed awkwardly, trying to save face – I wasn't used to girls her age not screaming my name with stars in her eyes, it was nice but weird after so long being a sex-symbol.

"She's not telling you half of what she's had to put up with these last six months," the girl spoke again, sending a reproachful look at Caroline, who simply glared back. It seemed like she'd been perfectly willing to spare her old man from more bad news, but I could handle a lot more than she knew.

Looking over at the chick, who gave a half-wave and introduced herself as simply being, "Casey," I asked that she tell me everything. Another look at Caroline told her clearly that I wasn't leaving until I knew every last bit.

"I can handle it," I assured both of them, sending Caroline a smile brimming with sincerity, "You can trust me, Munchkin."

0o0o0

"I'll kill those bastards!" I barely managed staying sitting next to Caroline for ten minutes, before I barreled through the door where I may or not have accidentally knocked said door into an unsuspecting kid, who may or may not have broken his nose, but that's not the important thing here!

"You!" I grabbed hold of the first person I saw after that, a scrawny boy, whose glasses were even bigger, and way less adorable, than Caroline's, "Show me who Jimmy is, and his friends…Thanks."

The kid swallowed, and his eyes darted around frantically. For a second I thought he would actually piss his pants and felt a little sorry for him, but then he talked and distracted me from any sign of pity. "J-J-Jimmy is o-o-over there and t-t-those around him a-are his f-f-friends," he stuttered and all but ran off when I released him with a curt nod of gratitude.

I looked over at Jimmy and his wanna-be-bad-posse and nearly smiled. Next to him was the kid I'd freaked out in the parking lot earlier, and from the way his eyes widened when he noticed me drawing closer, he remembered our encounter too.

A moment later, I reached the group and stopped right in front of my target. I completely ignored the gasps and shrieks of my name when I was recognized in the process. "You Jimmy?" I asked, trying not to let me fury at this little piece of shit hurting my daughter seep through.

Casey had told me that, not only did the fucking ass try to cut off Caroline's beautiful hair, but he'd stuck a hand down her pants too when he held her down and none of the fuckwits around did anything to stop him. That wasn't just bullying, that was dangerous. Not even I, in my heyday, had ever touched a girl that didn't want it. Guys just didn't do shit like that, period.

Jimmy was about Finn's height, and from the way he puffed himself up, he thought that made him awesome incarnated. He was muscular and good-looking to be honest, but that wouldn't last long, 'cause I'd make damn sure the idiot was gonna be one ugly motherfucker after our talk.

"Yeah, that's me," Jimmy said, straightening up even further. He tried acting like talking to a genuine celebrity was everyday business to him, but I had a hunch that if he'd been alone, he'd have jumped up and down and begged for a picture and an autograph. "Who's asking?"

Oh, no he didn't. I grinned smugly, so happy he was a proud bully – those were always the best kind to take down— I mean on.

"We need to talk. In fact," I added with a professional smile that I made sure wasn't showing any of my rage, "I kinda need to talk to all of your little friends here."

The group immediately started tittering and puffing themselves up like I'd just told them I'd take them to Holly-fucking-wood and make everyone of their dreams come true. So not happening…

"Sure, Dude," Jimmy beamed arrogantly, placing a hand on my shoulder as if we were the best of friends. Oh, I was gonna enjoy this, I just knew it. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"Caroline Puckerman," I growled, for the first time letting my anger shine through a little.

Jimmy swallowed, but didn't move his hand, "Well, I'm sorry to say, Puckerman, she's a little obsessed with me and I tried letting her off easy, you know, but I guess she's just too wild to be tamed, 'cause she kept coming at me all the time."

"Tell me that you didn't just tell a girl's dad that his kid was acting slutty?" My tone was perfectly polite, and I think most still thought I was screwing around – except from the parking lot kid, who'd slipped away in the middle of my talking with Jimmy. I guess he was smarter than he looked.

I didn't give Jimmy or anyone else the chance to say another word, 'cause within the span of seconds, I'd dragged him through the hall and outside where we ended up in the parking lot, in front of several other students. Unceremoniously, I threw the first punch and he went down like a sack of potatoes and let's just say that for the next five minutes he wasn't enjoying himself and I kinda lost myself to a red haze of fury.

When he stopped moving, I bent down and roughly pulled his head up by grabbing his fancy looking hair. "You think it's funny hurting a girl? You like being a big man, huh? You like touching girls that don't want it, huh? Tell me, you little piece of shit before I end you right here on this no-name parking lot!"

At this point in time, Jimmy's buddies finally intervened and the next little while went by in what felt like seconds. I was in the zone, completely tapped into my younger self's memories of fighting several people at once and I loved it.

In the end, though, it was Caroline's voice that brought me back to normal and when I came to my senses, I heard police sirens and was crouching over a bleeding Jimmy, who was screaming apologies and for one little second, I was overwhelmed with guilt. They were just kids really, but I couldn't bring myself to completely regret my actions, 'cause I was sure that after today no one was gonna mess with my kid ever again.

So, okay, maybe no one would dare come near her for a while after this, but really, when you think about it that's okay too. That just meant she'd stay a virgin a little longer and I was always down with that.

"Dad!" Caroline slung her slender arms around me, knocking me off Jimmy, who was now almost crying with relief when he saw her remove me. "Are you absolutely insane?" she slapped me on the shoulder, and I'm not gonna lie, it kinda hurt.

Caroline didn't get to say anything else right then, 'cause next thing I knew, two dudes were handcuffing me and telling me I was under arrest. I shared one look with Caroline and had to swallow a mix between a grin and a groan when she simply shook her head, "Mom's gonna kill you for this, you know that, right?" She added before Casey came over and led her away from the bleeding boys on the pavement and the sudden group of paparazzi that came out of nowhere, bloodhounds that they are.

"And the cops told me they were fans and after some autographs and promises of free tickets, I ended up in this office waiting for news," I, at long last, finished my tale, looking down at Rach, who hadn't moved an inch since I started my story.

There was a long beat of silence, where I just sat watching my wife with growing trepidation. I couldn't read if she was mad or not, but since I was sort of in jail I didn't push her to figure it out. Instead, I just waited quietly while the wheels turned in Rachel's brain.

After another long moment of silence, she moved. She bent down and withdrew her phone from her bag and proceeded to call Abraham. That conversation took five minutes, and then she looked up at me for the first time.

"You're going to publically apologize for hurting those kids," she said and I immediately nodded in agreement. "You're going to donate a significant amount of your own money to Caroline's school, so they will drop whatever charges they may press against you. You will under no circumstances do such a thing again," she added sternly when I breathed out a sigh of relief at the weak punishments. "You will go to an anger management course and," here Rach's lips twisted into a smirk and I barely withheld a groan when she continued smugly, "you have to play a part in the next romantic comedy I get an opportunity to work with, I do not care whether it is as an extra, a b-role or even one of the main characters, you will take whatever role you're offered without complaint, do I make myself clear?"

Rach had tried getting me to play a part in her movies since before she was pregnant with the twins, but I'd always managed to avoid it, citing that I was only interested in singing and kinda sucked at acting. I guess I couldn't avoid it anymore.

"Fine," I grumbled and got on my feet. "Can we go home now?"

"Oh, yes," Rach nodded and went to the door, "I told Daddy that he had ten minutes to do whatever he could to get you released into my custody and he has never failed me yet, as you very well know."

"I know," I sighed, still kinda bummed at having to show the world that I sucked at acting – I guess karma's a real bitch, huh?

Just before we reached the door, Rach suddenly whirled around and latched herself to me. Her warm lips prompting mine to open up and invite her in. Our tongues danced the dance they'd done for sixteen years, loving it just as much as back when it started. My dick quickly jumped to attention, and I was seconds away from throwing Rach down on the desk, onlookers be damned, when she pulled away, breathing heavily.

"What the hell was that?" I panted; already envisioning the ways I was gonna fuck her brains out when we got to her car. To be honest, I'd expected to be put on ice for a few days before being invited back into the holy land, so to speak, but I wasn't gonna complain – I wasn't that stupid.

"That," Rach answered, wiping her mouth delicately and opened the door where everyone suddenly catapulted into action, trying unsuccessfully to disguise that they hadn't been staring like little nosy kids, "was for kicking the shit out of those bastards that hurt my daughter."

I stood frozen for half a minute, just watching her walk away from me while I processed her words. Then I slowly started smiling and ran after her. For one short second, it seemed like I'd forgotten just who I'd married – Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that if Rach had been the one to receive the principal's call, those kids, and especially Jimmy, would've been dead by now.

It took a few months before the spectacle around the Incident, as my people started calling it, died down, and I lost a couple of endorsement deals with some sponsors, but I couldn't care less. Caroline wasn't being bullied anymore and that's all I cared about.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

"It's so fucking weird, how fast time goes by," I muttered as I struggled with the damnable tie that my wife had suggested I wear. I say "suggested", but we all know if I hadn't chosen that fucking tie I'd be in the doghouse right now, and I don't care how old I get, that's not a place I wanna be.

Especially these days…

"Dad," my son, Cory's voice distracted me from my wife's never-ending craziness and I looked over my shoulder at him. "Mom's getting antsy, so you better hurry up before she actually has to come looking for you."

Grinning at the boy that was literally the spitting image of me at that age, sans the awesome 'hawk, I pointed at the tie and without a word, my almost ten-year-old son reached up and did it for me. He may look like me, but he was crazy smart like his mom, so naturally the tie looked awesome and I ruffled his dark hair in gratitude, before making my way downstairs to my waiting wife.

In my haste, I narrowly missed slamming into my other son, Chalfon – still don't know why I honored the "name one twin each" agreement, Rach and I had when I heard that she wanted my boy to have a traditional Hebrew name. Seriously, who names their kid after a flute? Just sayin'.

"Dude," Cal, as I'd always insisted on calling the kid for both our peace of minds, "Mom's completely lost it. The paps aren't outside, so I don't get her deal."

Grinning at the second boy in the world, that was lucky enough to look just like me, I just reached out and ruffled his hair like I'd done to his twelve minute older brother.

"Don't," Cal practically growled, "it took forever to get this awesome." Unlike his brother, Cal was just like me. I loved it, until Rach pointed out how I'd been when I hit puberty and then it turned in to actual dread for the years to come.

"Dad!" My oldest child roared, and with a quick eye-roll, that I prayed she didn't spot, I finally reached the bottom of the stairs that led down to the gigantic suite that was only a small part of our cliché luxury super hotel experience that all superstars just had to have. Another one of my wife's ideas, in case you hadn't figured that one out.

"I'm here, I'm here," I placated Caroline, who still took my breath away just by being there. She was only a few weeks shy of turning twenty-one and to make matters worse, she was six months pregnant with twins.

"Good," she greeted me with an angelic smile that belittled her earlier raging roar, "'cause mom's outside in the limo, waiting. Also, she's stolen my crackers, so I'm gonna order room service after you left as part of the payment for my babysitting duties."

The glare she sent me, warned me to even think about denying her and I did the only thing I could think of, I told her to order whatever she liked. The warm smile that was so like her mother's that it made me weak in the knees, was proof that I hadn't made a bad call.

"Mister Puckerman, your wife is quite adamantly asking for your presence," the suite's designated butler interrupted my small moment with my oldest kid, and it was only 'cause the older man looked as if he'd just battled the Kraken all by his lonesome that I didn't tell him to wait until I was good and ready.

Sighing, I quickly grabbed my jacket and kissed Caroline on the cheek, and rubbed her belly gently. "You take care, Sweetie. Call me or Mom anytime if you need to. Love ya."

Caroline smiled, her tired eyes lighting up at the declaration even as she verbally returned the words. Chancing another few minutes of delay, I wrapped my girl into my arms and held her tightly, knowing from past experiences that her mood swings were making her grief all the more unstable.

"He loves you too, Sweetie, don't doubt that for a second."

"I know," Caroline whispered, clinging to me tightly for another moment before all but shoving me out the door. "Now go, before the other moody woman in your life turns violent."

The butler, who'd stood somewhat impatiently in the doorway since his last words, paled dramatically and I couldn't help but grin even as the sorrow from my daughter's broken heart lingered in the air.

After one last look at Caroline, who seemed to have gotten herself back together, I ran down to the lobby and out the door without any regard to possible paparazzi in the area. I'd cut it close already and I knew better than anyone that Rach wasn't the most stabile person these days.

A moment later, I jumped inside the car, and I managed to cut off my wife's voice that was quite firmly telling the poor schmuck of a driver to go get her husband immediately. "Hi, Babe," I greeted her, and warded off her upcoming complaints and lectures about promptness by adding, "Caroline had a moment."

Rach instantly stilled, and turned somber. "Was it bad? Do I need to go back upstairs? The reunion can wait, if she needs me."

"Nah," I settled in next to Rach's side, wrapping her in my arms, "she was eager to get me outta there, so she could no doubt corrupt the boys into eating as much junk as she's doing these days."

Rach laughed softly, leaning her head on my shoulder with a heavy sigh. I didn't have to ask what was going through her head 'cause I was probably thinking the same.

When Caroline had come home from college for her first summer vacation, she'd completely blown us all away when she introduced her boyfriend, Seth. He was a tall, gangly dude that looked like he could be knocked over by a gust of wind – also, he wore these dorky-looking glasses that, unlike Caroline, made him look like a huge geek.

The only reason I'd accepted him in the end was the fact that he didn't seem to give a fuck about who his girlfriend's parents were. Dorky as it sounds, he only had eyes for her. That didn't stop me from messing with the kid, scaring the shit out of him whenever possible, but he'd taken it with a smile and I'd grown to love him like a member of my own family.

Of course that went out the window when he'd asked me for my daughter's hand in marriage (yup, he was that much of a nerd). I'd forced him to answer all sorts of questions, threatening death and mayhem if my little girl was ever hurt, channeling Abraham Berry to the best of my abilities. He'd taken everything like a man, and for reasons unknown, I'd walked my girl up the aisle to that geeky kid on her twentieth birthday. Neither of them had ever looked happier, except when they informed us a few months later that they were expecting.

They were happy and he seemed to handle the Berry-crazy gene that was in Caroline with ease, and then, the stupid son of a bitch had to go play the hero in a mugging gone wrong. He was shot down trying to tackle some meth-head that was beating an old man for cash.

Now, nearly five months later, Caroline was putting everything into her pregnancy, not wanting his death to be in vain. She was still a far cry away from the happy young woman, she'd been and something told me that Caroline's eyes would always have that trace of sadness that made me want to commit murder to erase.

We'd all loved Seth, and Rach had formed a special bond with him in particular since it turned out that despite first appearances, the kid was a huge fan of hers. I had no doubt in my mind that if Caroline needed her to, Rach would drop out of the reunion she'd all but threatened her own agent to be allowed to go to.

Forcing the image of a smiling Seth out of my mind, I blew out a deep breath and finally looked over at the frozen driver. "Dude," I made a push forward motion with my free hand, "this car ain't gonna drive itself, ya know."

"Noah, be nice," Rachel's admonishment was soft-spoken and more than likely not entirely heartfelt. I just grinned my roguish grin as she called it, and forced her head back down on my shoulder.

"Just relax, Baby," I mumbled, kissing her soft hair, "you need to save your strength for all the ass-kicking you're gonna do tonight."

I could practically hear the eye-roll my attempt at soothing earned me, and Rach confirmed her annoyance verbally a second later, "Noah Puckerman, I've said it before and I'll say it again, since you so obviously are in dire need of yet another reminder: I'm not an invalid, nor am I feeble or too old to care proper care of myself. I'm simply pregnant…for the third time, so if you'd be ever so kind, hand me those crackers over there so I can fight off my hunger until we reach McKinley."

Smirking inwardly, while keeping a suitably chastened expression on my face that every husband has to learn to get by in life, I simply said what my seven month pregnant wife expected from me as I reached forward to grab the crackers she'd requested.

"Yes, Dear."

0o0o0

About half an hour later, the limo finally pulled up to a place I honestly can't tell you if I'd missed or not. There were so many mixed up memories that struggled to remind me of what a huge dick I'd been, while at the same time there were some that kept telling me I'd had some of my best things happening there.

Looking over at Rach, who was busy primping and trying to make herself look even more presentable than usual, I couldn't exactly say that it was a lie. Within that school was where my eyes had finally seen my wife for more than the cute, yet annoying, chick that I loved to torment. These days I just loved her, a fact that hadn't changed since we left that school twenty years ago.

As if sensing my staring, Rach looked over at me with a small smile, "What?" The love I saw in her eyes had only grown in our time together, and even though it probably made me a sappy shit from time to time, I just couldn't get enough of her. I had a feeling that it was something that would never change.

Even though my career had taken off just as hers had, earning me a couple of Grammy awards and even one Oscar for the movie that Rach had forced me into after kicking some butt in Caroline's high school years ago, I still thought that she was the most beautiful woman on the planet. It was a fact that the paps and several talk-show hosts had tried messing with over the years without any luck.

"Noah?" Rach's voice brought me back to the present, and I just shrugged and got out of the limo to help her. Graceful wasn't exactly easy to achieve when you were as tiny as she was and more than a little pregnant…and wearing heels.

Due to the presence of several more or less famous celebrities, the entire school area was closed off. Several burly security guards stood along the school grounds, eyeing their surroundings so intently, that I wouldn't be surprised if any people that did try to sneak in were gonna get their ass whooped.

Rach clenched my hand firmly, and I could see a rush of mixed emotions on her face as she too eyed the school that had at one point meant so much to us. "It is kind of amusing, you know," she started, turning her head to smile at me in thanks as I wrapped her arm into mine as I began leading us inside. "We used to be the stereotypical teenage parents cliché that every school seems to have, and yet we return now with celebrity status of a whole other degree."

Chuckling, I couldn't resist teasing her a little, "Well, come on, Sweetie; that's totally the reason you wanted to come to this reunion in the first place, wasn't it?"

"Hush, Noah," Rach laughed, not denying my claim in the least. Her laugh stopped a moment later, when we finally entered McKinley High and we were interrupted by a familiar face.

"Damn, it's good to see you two," Sam hollered and ran up to us, kissing Rach on the cheek and gave me one of those one armed man hugs that real dudes have to make when they see each other.. Shut up, we like to hug in my family, alright?

"You look relieved to see us," I grabbed Rach's clammy hand and squeezed it comfortably when out of the corner of my eyes I began to notice the stares from the small groups of people that were already lingering in the hall, "I thought you said you'd enjoy some time off from the band this month."

Sam's ginormous mouth twisted into a grin that still got him swooning girls to this day - not as many as me, though, 'cause I'm still Puckzilla – and he shrugged awkwardly, "Guess I can't live without you anymore, Puck."

"Whilst seeing your bromance is still going as strong as ever always brings a smile to my face," Rachel's amused voice cut in before I could respond to Sam in my usual err… delicate manner, "I really need to go to the restroom, and I would appreciate having you stand guard in front of the door, in case someone enters that may act ill-advised at my presence."

Sam nodded quickly and immediately hurried to make sure that no one could enter the restroom. He gave me the finger behind Rach's back when he spotted my teasing grin. Apparently, Sam could still vividly remember her last pregnancies and her unstable mood swings and was eager as I normally was to avoid any and all outburst of madness.

"Puck?"

A voice I didn't recognize distracted me from my fond memories of the time where Sam had literally been chased into the pool in our backyard when he'd told Rachel that she looked tired when she was pregnant with the boys.

Turning around, I straightened my shoulders, 'cause these days I never knew if it was a fan or an old friend that approached me. It was a tall, good-looking woman, who was eyeing my like a piece of meat.

"Hi," I cautiously greeted, and took a small step backwards when she just kept staring into my eyes like the answer to world hunger was in there. "I'm sorry, but I don't quite remember your name."

"Oh, that's totally fine," she said, and this time her nasally voice triggered some kind of almost buried memory. "I'm Karen Henderson – we knew each other back in high school. I just wanted to say hi, and maybe introduce you to my husband, he never believes me when I say we've met before, if you catch my drift."

A blind man could catch that drift, Lady, my less than polite side snarled, but I only nodded and before I knew it, the woman had all but shoved me forward and more or less into some dude's arms.

We had to make some kind of synchronized dance move to avoid smacking fully into each other and then stand like it was a planned move to keep our dignity.

A moment later, the guy lost any and all semblance of cool and started gushing at me like a fourteen year old virgin eyeing her first piece of man meat, and I allowed my mind to wander a little, while Karen and her husband just kept on yapping.

I priced myself on never forgetting a hook up and, let's be honest, before Rachel Berry turned my head; I'd had a few of those. Karen was one of them, and I'd banged her quite a few times, 'cause she gave decent head and was willing to try anything, which cancelled out her awful voice quite nicely. In the end, though, Santana had decided she wanted me again, and Karen and her nasally voice had faded into obscurity pretty quickly.

The silence in front of me, told me that the couple were done acting like little teenage girls, and I reluctantly turned my attention back on them.

"Thanks for the support," the automatic response and fake polite smile left my lips, and Karen's husband held up a phone.

"Mind if I take a picture of you? Karen's talked about you for years, and we'd love a picture to remember tonight."

Judging from the iron grip on my bicep, and the fanatical glint in Karen's eyes, I wasn't gonna get away without posing and with a huge, inwardly sigh, I did just that. I leaned down a little, so our heads were next to each other.

"If you want," Karen whispered, sending shivers of disgust down my spine, "I'm willing to relive the past a little. The janitor's closet is still like it used to be. I checked."

Within a second, I'd jumped away from the horny women's grasp and begun walking away without another word. Fuck, I'd really known how to choose the crazy ones, I decided when I heard Karen burst into tears and her confused husband's frantic soothing.

"Damn," another voice broke into my thoughts, distracting from hating my younger self too much. "Puckerman walking away from trouble, never thought I'd see the day. Gotta say I'm a little disappointed."

I turned my head and locked eyes with one of the other crazy women in my life. At least, I knew how to handle this one. "Well, thank you Satan – So happy that I can still ruin your life a little, it warms my heart."

Santana Lopez, still as beautiful and scary as ever, broke into a big smile that her rival attorneys would have sworn she was incapable of. I held out my arms and embraced her tightly. We hadn't seen each other in almost a year, living on different coasts and all.

"'Sup, Jackass? That hot wife of yours still driving everyone bonkers?"

I grinned and shrugged wordlessly, 'cause there really was no denying the way my awesome wife was.

"Urgh," Santana groaned with a small smile dancing on her lips, "you're still as disgustingly in love with her as ever, aren't you? Makes me sick."

"Then it quite the fortunate coincidence that Noah is indeed my husband and not yours, isn't that right, Santana?" Rachel's voice sounded from behind me, and I turned to look at her with a beaming grin on my face. Her dark eyes were locked on Santana, as if the Latina had just propositioned me.

A small part of me was relieved that Rach didn't see Karen's earlier attempt at seducing me, 'cause let me just say that her jealousy-meter goes up a notch when she's pregnant. It's fuck hot, but not very practical in the long run, to be honest.

"Whatever, Manhands," Santana rolled her eyes. Unlike twenty years ago, the derogatory name for Rach was now meant affectionately and that was the only thing that kept me from glaring at the woman who was basically my female counterpart.

Rachel walked over and hugged her former arch-nemesis and they broke into pearly laughter that I have no idea what was about. Women are weird.

A moment later, they turned to me in tandem and Rach held out her hand for me to take. "Are you ready to partake in what must inevitably go down in McKinley High's history as the most extraordinary reunion ever?"

Santana chuckled and added as she slung her arm around my waist, "Yeah, Puckerman – are you ready for a kickass night? I heard all the old glee club members are here tonight."

I glanced over at the hallway that led into the gymnasium that was being used as the party venue tonight and saw several people already making their way down there and shrugged, playing it as cool as only the Puckasaurus could.

"Sure. Let's go have an epic reunion, ladies." I then led the two of them towards the open doors, not knowing just how true my words would end up being until later.

TBC…

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

"I'm not gonna say that what you did was wrong since you're all adults now and it isn't my place anymore," I had to fight extremely hard to not crack a grin as I –and my fellow friends– were taken to task by none other than a grey-haired Mr. Shue, "but we all know that what happened was way beneath your usual standards, and I'm kinda disappointed in you, Rachel especially with your condition."

Rachel didn't meet our old teacher's stern gaze, choosing instead to let her eyes linger on the floor. All around us, various members of the original glee club sat with different degrees of shame and/or excitement on their faces.

Personally, I was torn between laughing my ass off and punching the older dude in the face. It had been twenty years, but he still somehow focused all the negative energy on my wife. Okay, granted, I amended silently, this time it was kinda her fault, but still…

"You do realize that with you being pregnant, your behavior was doubly troubling, right? Also, what would your fans say if they saw you right now?"

That seemed to work better than even Mr. Shue had anticipated, 'cause tears filled those gorgeous eyes of hers and she broke her locked gaze from the floor, shielding herself from us watching behind her hands. "I know! It is absolutely mortifying if this gets out. There isn't a doubt in my mind that some simpleminded person taped all of it and it is no undoubtedly already on its way to a viral state. Probably following orders from that cretin, Jacob Ben Ishrael, who's really to blame for what transpired earlier this evening; he hasn't changed one bit. Oh, I don't even know what to say!"

I heard a snort from beside her and spared a half-hearted glare at Santana, who was sitting with a sleeping, drunk-as-a-skunk Brittany in her arms. The blonde's husband was passed out next to them. Santana's entire expression seemed pretty much like she violently disagreed with Rach's claim of being unable to speak. She was right, of course, but nobody disses my wife but me.

True to form, Mr. Shue completely disregarded anything other than his own speech, and I rolled my eyes and placed an arm around Rach's shaking shoulders. "It's okay, Babe," I soothed, rubbing her back a little.

"No it is not, Noah!" Rachel all but bellowed in my right ear, causing me to wince and retreat a little to save the rest of my hearing. "I don't know what I was thinking. I ruined what was otherwise a perfectly nice evening. People's perception of me have been irrevocably damaged and–-"

"It's gonna be fine, Rachel." Quinn came to my rescue, being the only one brave enough (or stupid, depending on how you look at it) to interrupt an emotional Rachel. "I for one think this evening was wonderful. To be honest, it brought me a kind of closure seeing as I wasn't present when this pretty much happened at Prom twenty years ago as well. Isn't that right, Finn?"

Quinn looked over at her husband, who was slouching pathetically with two pieces of paper stuck in his nose to stop the bleeding. He quickly straightened up, eyed Quinn and giving everyone the feeling that he hadn't really been paying attention. "Totally, Honey. I'm with you one hundred percent."

Damn, he's so fucking whipped it's hilarious; I grinned, but quickly stopped when my split lip reopened at the movement and started bleeding again.

"Oh, Noah," Rach's dramatics were instantly forgotten the second she noticed the blood and she awkwardly leaned toward me with a baby wipe in her hand. Where she got this shit from out of thin air, I'd learned to stop wondering about over the years.

After a few minutes of muttered concern and gentle caring that made me wanna go get reacquainted with the nearest janitor's closet so I could rock Rach's world, Mr. Shue seemed to realize that he had lost her attention. He turned back to the rest of the former Gleeks with a mild glare that was intensified by the glasses he now wore.

"Since I became principal here at McKinley, I've done nothing but brag about each and every one of you. No matter how big or small your lives are, you'll always be my greatest achievements, but," the gooey feeling the teacher's words invoked in us turned to lead when he continued seriously, "I have never been more disappointed in you. I expect you all to pay for the repairs and apologize to those needlessly pulled into this mess."

We all nodded mutely, none of us willing to say anything. After a little while though, Mr. Shue showed me just why it was I'd always seen him as a decent dude despite his inconsistencies. His lips twitched a little as he spoke again before quickly leaving to no doubt mend some fences with the other students and their families.

"Despite everything, I'm glad you all made it back tonight. It's been too quiet without you guys around."

There was a long moment of silence after our old teacher left, and then, slowly everyone around me began chuckling. In a matter of seconds, it turned into full-blow laughter, eclipsing in Kurt of all people speaking, "That was so awesome!"

Grinning, I pulled an equally laughing Rachel closer and as my mind travelled back to everything that had taken place that night, I couldn't help but agree wholeheartedly.

0o0o0

Entering the gym was an experience in of itself. Santana and Rachel stopped and my arms fell down to my sides as I tried taking everything in.

There was an ungodly amount of tulle hung up everywhere, several glittering lights as if paying homage to the seventies, but most of all, my eyes went to the humongous cutouts of most of the former members of New Directions.

"Huh," I heard Rachel exclaim with an odd tone in her voice, and I turned away from the picture of myself as a teen with my once so glorious 'hawk posing in my football uniform.

"What?" I asked, ignoring the gasps of the people around me as they realized that we'd actually shown up.

Rach's gaze was locked on a picture of Kurt, who must have gotten his picture taken just as a slushie made its way toward him, judging from the small hint of fluids in the outer frame of the picture. "I guess it has never truly dawned on me before just how many of my fellow glee club members that have actually made a name for themselves over the years."

Translation, Rach was beginning to realize that she wasn't the only celebrity coming tonight and it was bugging her, but she was trying to be gracious about it.

Deciding to ignore my wife's craziness in case it got worse and got me banded from sex, I just smiled and nodded. "Yeah, who'd have thunk it, huh? We weren't exactly the popular group back then – I mean, aside from yours truly, 'cause I've always been fucking awesome."

Rach rolled her eyes at me, "Noah, please. Your vocabulary doesn't need to return to its teenaged state. I know for a fact that since having kids, you've grown much more mature in terms of expletives."

"Huh?"

"Grow up, Noah," she groaned, but I caught the small smile flashing over her lips and considered my antics a win.

"Puckerman!"

The scream of my name with obvious happiness wasn't something I'd never heard before, but I can honestly say that hearing it coming from my former principal, who must have been about 60 plus years, was a new experience.

"Mr. Figgins," I automatically straightened my back. We'd never had the closest relationship, but this was the man that had pretty much given me shot after shot when my temper had broken free of my control and not kicked me out of school when my bullying was at its worst. He may or may not have been a shitty principal sometimes, but now, with the knowledge twenty years had brought me, I looked back on the dude fondly.

"Well, Puck," the Indian accent giving me an odd sense of homesickness, which was so fucking weird, I briefly considered taking a quick detour over to the nearest bar and drink myself into a stupor, "I can honestly say that it is nice to see you returning here to McKinley to represent a time where not all had high hopes for the school."

"And they do now?" I smirked and my esteem for the older guy went up a notch when he just grinned sheepishly.

"Well, now they enter the school, knowing that several alumni went somewhere and made something of themselves, which is a lot better than before. Don't you agree?"

"Sure. I wouldn't let Rach know that she's not the sole reason for that change though," I leaned forward as I spoke and lowered my voice a bit, "she's pregnant again and that pregnancy brain is messing with her perception even more than normally, just sayin'."

"Thank you, Noah for that delightful description of my state of mind. I'm so pleased to find you at our old principal's side, building up my reputation."

FUCK!

Every cell in my body froze at the deceptively calm tone in my wife's voice, and I'm not gonna lie, it took every ounce of courage in me to slowly turn around and face that crazy midget that had owned my balls for the past twenty years.

"Hi, Babe," I greeted, "looking as hot as ever…Also, I love you more every day."

The sigh my wife emitted was loud, but the sparkle in her eye told me she wasn't as pissed as she tried to portray. Relieved, I bent down and planted a big kiss on her lips before turning my attention back on Figgins.

The old man was trying to hide what looked like an amused grin. I was just about to say something to make myself feel a little better when a shout of my name rang throughout the room.

Instantly recognizing the caller, I quickly said bye to my old principal and unceremoniously dragged Rachel over to him. "Hey, Buddy!"

Finn hadn't changed much over the years. Having one of those annoying mugs that never seemed to age, but I was too awesome to care much about him looking younger than the average thirty- plus year old and just hugged my childhood friend hard.

What? We lived states apart, and with our busy lives I didn't get to see him as often as I'd like. Shut up.

"Dude, this is so cool!" Finn exclaimed, gesturing with his massive hands toward the other people still sidling in as we spoke. "Quinn almost didn't wanna come. She only said yes when she realized that you guys were gonna come."

We shared a grin, both knowing that Quinn hadn't cared didly-squat about me being in Lima. No, she was still Rachel's closest friend after all these years. Finn and I had our suspicions about them plotting to get their daughter to hook up with one of my boys eventually. The idea wasn't a bad one, so I never mentioned it and Finn had sworn to keep mum about it too.

"So where's the missus?" I asked, glancing around the room, but not spotting the beautiful blonde that had somehow stayed married to Finn Hudson for about 18 years.

"She ran into one of her old Cheerio friends that neither of us has thought about since she got pregnant with Eve, but well, you know."

"It seems I have become utterly forgotten in the midst of you two reuniting, so I'll just butt in and say my hellos before you both inevitably succumb to your lesser functions," Rach said and twisted out of the loose grip I hadn't realized I still had on her arm, sending me a more real glare this time as she walked away from us after kissing Finn's cheek mutely.

Note to self, even after twenty years, I really should have learned that Rachel hates being dragged anywhere – especially when she was pregnant.

I glared at Finn, who was grinning and looking just a tad too smug for my tastes.

"Shut up, Asswipe. Now tell me all about how your business is going."

0o0o0

The next couple of hours practically flew by. I met all of my old friends and fellow glee club members and a butt load of strangers that I barely remembered. Several of these were women I'd hooked up with like that broad from earlier, but fortunately none of them reacted anywhere near as wildly as her.

I was just sitting at one of the tables, having a quiet laugh with Dave, who'd shown up a few moments earlier with Kurt. Both of them were a firm fixture in my life, had been ever since high school, so there wasn't as much to catch up on. It was just relaxing as hell, and I enjoyed it more than I'd ever admit to the fuckers out loud.

Our comfortable sphere was broken, when my fuming wife popped up next to me with fire in her eyes. Since she didn't immediately launch into some form of violence on my person, I figured it'd be safe to assume that I wasn't the one she was pissed at this time.

"Oh that infuriating, vile cockroach!"

Coming from Rachel's lips that were pretty much like me using the "F" word and beating someone up so I instantly straightened up and paid more attention.

"What happened, Babe?"

Rach's gaze met mine and the look in them softened ever so slightly as she sat down on the chair that Dave had pushed behind her. "I ran into that disgusting man, Jacob Ben Ishrael. He hasn't changed a bit," she explained. "If possible, he's grown even more despicable!"

I let my eyes wander the crowded gym, but the little fucker was nowhere in sight. Turning back to Rachel, I asked again, "What happened, Rachel?"

For the first time, it seemed like she realized that whatever she said next would make Jacob walk on very thin ice, so she actually hesitated before telling me. I raised a brow, silently waiting and she sighed heavily before finally answering my question.

"I was just leaving the restrooms, since I once again had to use the facilities due to my current state when he came upon me like the scavenger that he is. He hugged me, presumably thinking that I have spent even one iota of the last twenty years thinking about him. His incessant questions about our marriage were only a mere annoyance to me since I couldn't fathom the fact that he'd actually placed his hands on my stomach and started rubbing it and trying to get our child to move. As if that wasn't enough, he begged for an interview while taking several unsanctioned pictures of me with his phone. It was only Sunshine's timely arrival and subsequent roar of anger that managed to get him off of me long enough for me to find you. I'm sorry, I may have overreacted, but you know I dislike anyone touching my belly without permission. In particularly the very man, who's spent most of his pitiful life obsessing over me."

I'd like think that I've matured a lot over the years, gotten most of my anger under control and all. Caroline's being bullied in high school incident aside, I'd kept my cool pretty much, even calming Rach down when it was the boys' turn to experience bullying a few years later, but I guess my deep-seated dislike of Jacob hadn't been tackled properly, 'cause in that moment, I saw red.

"Noah," Rach began to say, bending over to caress my face, "please relax. I overreacted a little, I just needed to vent and I'm okay again."

"Babe," I looked at her closely, my rage simmering down a little at her calm, soothing tone of voice, "he fucking touched you. You hate that shit."

Sighing again, Rachel awkwardly sat down on my lap and put her arms around my neck. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kurt drag a frowning Dave away to give us some semblance of privacy.

"I will never like that man, but I promise you that after getting my frustration vocalized I feel much better. Now, let us go seek out Sunshine. I regret that our first meeting in so many months turned into this and I would love to rectify it. She didn't even get a chance to pester me about the sequel to her movie this time."

Reluctantly, a chuckle left my throat. Sunshine's battle to get Rach to once again star in one of her movies was ongoing. Ever since Rach had starred in the first one that was based on a popular book series the tiny Philippine girl had written, Sunshine had been dying to repeat the blockbuster success it had become and Rach hadn't.

A few minutes later, we located the small woman. To my surprise, we found her in the middle of what looked like a whispered argument between her and Azimio. The former football player and bully had turned into a very fashionable lawyer, whose popular practice was co-owned with Santana and he'd actually sort of turned into a decent human being. He was actually one of my personal lawyers and kept doing a good job of it.

He'd never really lost his love for Sunshine, and it was pretty sad to see when we all managed to get together once in a while, how his eyes would follow her every movement. He'd even married a pretty good look alike of her a few years back, but aside from getting a little boy out of it, that had been a huge fiasco.

Sunshine on the other hand, had never married and openly declared herself a bisexual some odd years back, which always made me a little cautious leaving her alone with Rach for too long. That star struck expression in her eyes whenever Rach was around had never quite faded, and it was an open secret that that was one of the main reasons that Azimio had eventually snapped and their relationship hadn't exactly ended on a high note.

As we drew nearer, I realized that for once it was actually Sunshine who looked desperate. Her focus was one hundred percent on the much larger man, who seemed barely interested in listening to her. It was quite a confusing sight, and I gently held Rachel back a little to give them space.

A minute or two went by, and finally Azimio snapped his head back in her direction and stepped backwards a few paces. "Fuck you, Sunny," he practically growled, for the first time loud enough so I could listen in. "I've never done anything to make you doubt me ever and you have to fucking balls to accuse me of immaturity? Who's the dude who's actually a fucking parent here? You're just too chicken-shit to own up to what's always been there and hidden behind your work."

Well, I inwardly mused, it seemed like I wasn't the only one, whose vocabulary had stayed intact. Thank fuck for that.

I felt Rachel stiffen when Azimio all but yelled out his next words and stamped off into the crowd. Probably to get a much needed drink.

"If you keep the kid, I'll do my part, but no matter what you choose, you and I are fucking done as of right now. I'm not wasting the rest of my life waiting for your sorry ass!"

I stood dumbly, watching Rach launch herself at a now crying Sunshine. Within seconds, it seemed like all the female members of our old glee club was around us and a few minutes later, I found myself standing guard in the restroom while they all comforted the tiny woman, who'd apparently been knocked up by Azimio when they'd last been around each other.

Santana came to stand next to me with a tired expression on her face. "I told him to give her time, but did that motherfucker listen? Nope."

"Should we go find him, hear his side so he knows he's not totally alone right now?"

Santana glanced at me, a familiar smirk on her lips that somehow calmed me down more than I would ever really acknowledge. "Nah, don't worry about that bastard. He's been my best friend for years, he's tougher than he looks and this time I'm actually on his side."

"What do you mean?" I asked, ignoring the wails coming from the closed door behind me.

"She sought him out this time, blubbering about her never finding that one person that she could be herself with and all that kind of bull. Next thing he knows, she's leaving him again without as much as a note and then last night she had the gall to call him up and tell him she was getting an abortion 'cause she didn't think he'd be mature enough to handle things."

Okay, I kinda got Azimio's anger now. Having actually seen him with his little boy, Jerome and having had to listen to his eternal ramblings about his kid's brilliances during several of our business meetings, there was no doubt in my mind that he was a good dad. No fucking doubt at all and hearing that Sunshine had the nerve to somehow blame this entire clusterfuck on him made me pissed off and I reacted before Santana could do or say anything else.

I barged through the closed restroom door and unceremoniously made my through the ring of women that surrounded my wife and Sunshine.

"Excuse me ladies," I said and calmly swung Sunshine into my arms and turned to leave.

Rachel's shocked exclamation of my name didn't deter me; I simply shot her a look that promised to explain everything later and marched right back out of the crowded room.

Sunshine's miniature fists were banging on my chest and I quickly sat her down in the first available chair I found. It was right next to the guards' station, but after one look to make them back off, I turned all my focus back on the still crying woman.

"Stop your whining and listen to me, you crazy excuse of a woman."

My tone seemed to stop whatever it was she was about to scream at me and I continued, "You know Azimio loves you, has done so for years and you've been okay with that. Hell, we all know you've reveled in that shit whenever you were feeling down in the dumps and I was okay with that, 'cause he's a giant dick most of the time and deserves to suffer for all the shit he's put us through over the years, but now, I'm gonna draw a fucking line. You got knocked up and that's not any of my business, but dragging my wife into your drama is not okay – especially since you're the one to blame for everything this time. Now, I've put up with your adoration of Rach for years, hell, I've even fantasied about it a time or two, 'cause you're two hot chicks and I'm a hot-blooded dude, but I won't have you getting her involved in shit that you're the only one who can fix. Also," I finally drew a much needed breath and crouched down in front of the frozen looking Sunshine, "I need you to know that you're a coward and if you don't march right back in there and fix things with him, you're an even bigger loser than I thought."

"I'm not a loser," Sunshine whispered, not quite meeting my eyes.

"Blaming this shit on him, telling him he ain't a fit parent when we both know that he fucking adores his son isn't right, Sunshine and you know it." I sighed, and ran a hand through my hair in frustration and weariness. "To be honest, I know this ain't something I need to butt into, but I'm just too fucking tired of drama, having had way too much of that in my life lately and so has Rachel. Grow the fuck up, Sunny. We're not teenagers anymore."

Sunshine's eyes widened when I mentioned drama and I knew she remembered what the Puckerman family had been through lately. Fortunately, she didn't mention it and just nodded without a word. A moment later, she got up and disappeared into the gym, presumably to go do as I'd so kindly suggested.

"You're such a softie, Noah Puckerman." Rach's voice brought me back to the present, and I got to my feet and smiled.

"Don't tell anyone or you'll ruin my rep, Babe."

She grabbed my hand and began pulling me toward the gym again. "Now that the obligatory reunion drama is over for the night, what say you that we just enjoy ourselves the rest of the evening?"

"Hell yeah, Mrs. Puckerman," I grinned and she returned the action with a beaming smile of her own and I swear, I kinda fell in love with her all over again.

0o0o0

Sometime later, we seemed to have all graduated toward each other. The old glee club members and their spouses, I mean. We were sitting at three tables that we'd pulled together earlier and were just enjoying ourselves, shooting the bull and all that usual reunion crap and I was beginning to think that things were gonna keep going peacefully.

Of course, I should've known better.

I was sitting with Rach in my lap again and chatting amiably with Finn, Sam and Artie, ribbing them good naturedly. Sunshine was mimicking Rach's position on Azimio's lap next to us as he talked quietly with Dave, Kurt and Mike of all people. Apparently, they'd worked things out when I wasn't looking. Santana were glowering silently at Brittany's husband, who was busy entertaining the obviously intoxicated ditzy blonde, Mercedes and Tina with some story. Rachel was busy gossiping with Quinn, too engrossed in their talk to notice the person making his way over to her – Jacob.

I however did notice and immediately cut off my own talk with the guys, sending an epic glare toward him. I quickly noticed that he wasn't alone. Trailing behind him were a couple of guys that I didn't recognize at first, but the hungry look in their eyes and their firm hold on the cameras in their hands quickly identified them as paparazzi's.

"I'm gonna kill that bastard," I growled when he drew to a stop right in front of us, looking for all the world as if he had nothing to worry about. Everyone fell silent at his approach and neither of us said anything.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my former classmates and their spouses quiet down as well, apparently smelling the tension and eager to see what would happen. Fucking vultures.

I felt more than saw Rachel straighten up and put on her coldest, yet most polite mask in her arsenal. It was one she used whenever we went out with the kids on family events and we ran into reporters and such.

"What may I help you with, Jacob?" Her tone was courteous, but cold as fuck, but it seemed like the fucker didn't recognize the danger, 'cause he just broke into a big smile.

He hadn't changed all that much over the years. The afro had gotten replaced with a comb-over and the glasses were no longer present and he was rocking a huge beard that sorta made him look like an even more demented Richard Simmons.

"Hi everyone!" He greeted us, gesturing behind him and suddenly we were being photographed while Jacob kept talking, "I really wanted to do an interview today, since it's been more or less twenty years since I've last been able to get so close to you all, a kind of follow up if you will."

His beady eyes were focused on Rach and I loudly cleared my throat, which made him falter a little in his excitement when he glanced at me. It seemed like my fond memories of our time together weren't the same as his, 'cause he quickly looked back at Rachel.

"Let's start with the most glorious of them all." Here he actually was dumb enough to leer down my wife's cleavage, and I would probably have jumped the fucker if I hadn't had Rachel on my lap.

Then, the stupid son of a bitch really, truly crossed the line, and to my surprise I found that I no longer had Rachel on me.

"So Rachel, I've been your most ardent fan for most of my life, and was sad to hear about your bastard daughter's shotgun wedding. How are you handling the death of her very young husband just months earlier? Are you relieved not to be a mother in-law anymore, do you think of it as divine interventi—ARGH!"

Rach had jumped to her feet, grabbed the nearest thing around that could be used as a weapon, which was Quinn's purse in case you were wondering and was beating the snot out of Jacob. I'm not kidding; she had him on his knees, defending himself from her onslaught.

"Don't. . . !" Rachel screamed, ending each word with both a well-deserved smack of the purse in her hands and a kick from her very pointy shoe.

The rest of us sat frozen for a long moment, not really processing what we were seeing, I think, but then Jacob's two buddies decided to butt in and I honestly didn't know who was quicker in terms of defending Rach.

Quinn knocked the snot out of one of them, making the dude sprout blood all over the place. Sunshine was being as crazy as she had been at our prom, 'cause she had catapulted off of Azimio and jumped on to the second one, choking him with the string that his camera was attached to. Personally, I turned my attention on Jacob and held the jackass down for Rachel's benefit. I mean, it was only the gentlemanly thing to do, right? She shouldn't have to chase her prey in her condition.

Anyway, suddenly things exploded into chaos like you wouldn't believe. While we were taking care of the real culprits, it seemed like pandemonium had spread from our little area all throughout the gym. Next to us, I suddenly caught a glimpse of a viciously cussing Santana, who was –believe it or not – engaged in what looked like a painful hair pulling fight with Brittany's husband, who was giving as well as he got. Brittany herself was passed out drunk at the table, unconscious and uncaring of the lover's triangle she was part of apparently.

Finn and Mike were fighting two other guys that seemed like they were friends with whomever it was that Jacob had invited and wasn't happy about the way we were treating them. Before I knew it, I was pulled off of Jacob and engaged in my own fistfight with this huge security guard that I automatically socked, 'cause no way in hell was I ready to stop making Jacob pay for what he'd said about my little girl.

Other guards were coming and the fight escalated. Behind me, I heard Mercedes' customary "Hell to the no!" and someone screaming out in agony shortly thereafter and figured she had things covered on her end. Tina was now helping Azimio, trying to pull Sunshine off her victim. She'd turned to biting the poor sucker's arm as he desperately tried prying her off of him. She was like a little ferocious bulldog.

A vicious punch that rattled my brain was my punishment for not paying attention to my surroundings. It looked like the guard I'd socked had returned the favor and I turned my attention back to him just as I spotted Artie and Kurt blocking people from taking pictures to the best of their abilities. Dave stood guard behind them, bleeding from a split lip, so I guessed he had had to get a little psychical as well.

It didn't take too long for me to handle my own opponent, slamming him down to stay there with a brutal uppercut. I quickly turned my focus back on my wife, who was still wailing on a now whimpering Jacob, looking like she could go on all night if asked. The undeniable glee on her face was the only thing that kept me from interrupting her. Instead, I turned my attention to huddle of unrecognizable people nearby.

In the midst of all the yelling, cussing and occasional screaming, I heard a familiar voice from deep within the mass of people and realized that somewhere in there, Sam was being overrun and what kind of a best friend would I be if I didn't lend a hand?

Sadly, I never got to do so, 'cause in the next minute Sue Sylvester's very recognizable –and fear inducing – voice rang out over the fighting gym. Everyone and I mean everyone, froze and looked up at the tall woman, who looked just like she used to when we all went to the damns school.

"Now that I finally have you hoodlums' attention," Sylvester yelled, "mind telling those of us not in the know, what the hell you are doing? This is not an eighties rave where you can all just wander in and beat up the nearest person for a shot of cocaine that may or may not in reality turn out to be sugar. This is a high school reunion, people!"

0o0o0

After we'd all pulled ourselves together and had faced Mr. Shue's wrath, Rach and I invited every member and friend to our suite to continue reminiscing about our colorful pasts. At least there would be no reporters of any kind in our temporary home as Rach proclaimed primly when she was wiping her bloodied hand clean(evidently, she'd hit Jacob in the nose just after Sue called off the fun).

Everyone agreed to come and when we barged into our suite, several of the group happily greeted Caroline, who'd waited up for us. Thankfully no one mentioned Seth or the tragic death, choosing instead to gift Caroline with various stories from when we'd had her. She seemed to find the whole thing hilarious and when everyone finally crashed, I just helped her up to her room and kissed her cheek before she went to bed.

Coming into my own bedroom, Rachel was waiting for me. Finn and Quinn were sleeping on a blow-up bed they'd somehow gotten a hand on, right next to our bed. Our suite was huge, but even that wasn't enough for everyone to get a room of their own to sleep in and I figured it was better getting them than Sunshine and Azimio. God only knew who Rach would wake up spooning the next morning…

"Thank you, Noah," she whispered as I climbed into bed with a tired groan. "This truly was a splendid evening and I'm thrilled we came."

"Even though we're gonna be in every goddamned newspaper tomorrow, not counting all the Tweets and shit that's already happened?"

Rach smiled and placed her head on my shoulder, making herself comfortable. "To be perfectly honest, I think all of the fallouts and whatever's that will come from this, all if it was worth it just to finally get my hands on him."

There was no reason asking who she meant, so I just chuckled a bit and nodded my agreement. "Totally. But…" I stopped, waiting for her eyes to meet mine before adding teasingly, "you do know that you can never bother me with the whole Caroline High School incident anymore, right?"

My wife's brown eyes narrowed in confusion. "What do you mean, Noah?"

Grinning, I explained, "I mean, I only beat up a couple of teenagers and got a few days of attention nationally. You on the other hand were filmed starting a huge fight that escalated into mayhem, according to Mr. Shue there's property damage for several thousand dollars. Your thing is gonna go international, Babe, so it'll be way worse than my thing, 'cause that was never caught on film so…yeah, I'm finally free of the incident."

"Noah?" Rach's tone was saccharine sweet even with Finn's massive snoring in the background, which I knew she couldn't stand.

"Yeah, Babe?"

"Shut up or I'll name our child without any input whatsoever from you."

Really, there was only one acceptable reply to that, 'cause I wasn't willing to chance a worse name than the one she'd saddled Chalfon with.

"Yes, Dear."

0o0o0

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

Puck And His Nuts

"What?" I managed to croak out, suddenly unable to swallow past the huge lump in my throat.

The doctor in front of me looked sympathetic, but fortunately he wasn't eyeing me with pity. I honestly didn't think I could've handled that. Then again, I reasoned numbly, he probably got to deliver news like this tons of times a day and I wasn't anything special. Right now, I wasn't the celebrity that was envied worldwide; I was just a forty-year-old dude who'd just found out that he had cancer.

"Fuck," I moaned, leaning forward to rest my arms on the prim desk in front of me. "This can't be happening." I wanted to cry like a little girl, but forced it back, not ready to fully deal with my emotions yet.

My doctor, Dr. Hamilton, sighed as if he had expected my words and repeated his earlier sentence.

"I'm sorry Mr. Puckerman, but I'm afraid that the tests didn't lie. You do have testicular cancer."

My heart sank at the words I'd already heard, 'cause apparently, I didn't just have cancer in my nutsack, I had stage 3 cancer in my manhood and there was a high chance of it having already spread into other parts of my body.

"W-wha…Fuck," I stammered, using every last strength in me to look the very expensive doc in the eye and finish the question. "What are my chances, Dr. Hamilton? I've got a family that'd really like to keep me around, you know."

Dr. Hamilton smiled and handed me a couple of sheets of paper with a lot of difficult words written on them that were more up Rach's alley than mine. "To be completely honest, Mr. Puckerman, your type of cancer is one of the good ones. No," he held up a hand when I was about to protest, 'cause in my book no type of cancer was a good one. "Let me finish, please."

I nodded and gestured for the older man to continue, which he did without fuss. He'd been my doctor for years and knew how I was under stressful situations.

"There's about 80 percent survival rate after five years and even if the cancer has spread it will only decrease to about fifty percent, those are very good odds. Coupled with your very healthy lifestyle and relative young age, I'd say that with the proper treatment your chances are good."

I managed to swallow after that and nodded mutely. "Puck," Dr. Hamilton's voice was gentle and his eyes friendly when I met them. "Let me tell you what'll happen now and we'll take it from there. Okay?"

"Yeah, all right," I agreed, 'cause what else could I do? Like I'd told the doc, I had a family that needed me to stick around.

0o0o0

The next day, I finally landed in New York where I was gonna meet up with Rach that night after her newest show ended. I'd been away for a month on a small tour to get people excited for Sam's and I's newest album. I'd felt a little shitty before leaving for the tour, but it had escalated during our travels and I'd had Dr. Hamilton flown in, paid him an obscene amount of money to have my tests done at the nearest hospital while keeping my situation private and well…Now I had to go break my wife's heart.

Thank fuck it was summer, and the kids were off from school. The boys were spending it with Finn and Quinn in D.C. Caroline was in L.A. with her son, Seth Jr. to promote her book, which had shot to the top of the bestseller list and visit with Seth Senior's relatives for his birthday. Anita, my youngest miracle, had just turned four and was still too young to be away from either of us for too long. She was spending the week with Kurt and Dave and their little girl, Coco in their vacation home only an hour away.

That only left me with Rachel to worry about.

I knew I couldn't go meet her at the theater, 'cause not only was I home early, which would make her suspicious, but I looked like crap. I hadn't really slept in two days, too worried about what my tests would show and then after knowing my situation, I was terrified of telling my wife.

We'd lost Abraham only the year before when he'd gotten stomach cancer that had reduced the once so strong man to a shell of his former self. The only good thing about it all was that he went fast and didn't hang around for months, feeling pain with every breath. Hiram and Rachel had barely learned to cope with his absence; hell, I had barely learned to live without him in my life. They weren't ready to handle another loved one's disease without crumbling.

At least, that's what I thought and why I was so damned reluctant to share my news with Rachel.

I showered and ignored the ache in my scrotum and back as I quickly got redressed in a comfy pair of sweats and went into my office to kill the time until Rach got home. Like an idiot I did what Dr. Hamilton had warned me not to do. I went online and searched the hell out of testicular cancer, wanting to know all that I could about what could essentially be a death sentence.

So, I was pessimistic and freaked out, so sue me.

Anyway, after having spent nearly an hour online, getting more and more panicked by every word read, I heard the front door open and Rachel's happy voice calling out my name. She'd probably seen my car in the garage and figured out I was back.

"Noah! I'm so happy to see you," she all but squealed when she stormed through the open door and flung herself at me to welcome me home. Luckily for my nuts, she'd grown out of her habit of jumping into my lap.

She kissed me thoroughly, but I guess I wasn't as awesome in responding as usual, 'cause after a few moments, she withdrew with a small frown marring her still beautiful features. Seriously, she looked hotter than ever having just turned forty herself; if I'd met her during my pool-cleaning days, I'd have banged her with relish, is all I'm sayin'.

Anyway, Rach straightened back up and eyed me as though I was an intriguing puzzle she needed to solve. Or a competitor for the Tony awards, whatever.

"Noah, don't take this the wrong way, but you look completely terrible. Are you sick? Did you stay outside too much, you know how much rain and fog wreaks havoc on your immune system. "

Her tiny hand slapped onto my forehead, and she leaned closer to no doubt count my breaths or something. Feeling like an ass, I gently removed her hand and got to my feet with a smile so fake it made my toes curl.

"Nah, Babe – Relax, I'm just exhausted. Sam and I were extra careful to not spend too much time outside other than when we were performing." Yeah, my inner voice mockingly pointed out, you were spending most of the time feeling like crap and icing your achy back and groin whenever you had a spare moment. Tell her!

"I'm beat, do you mind if we pick this up tomorrow?" Not giving Rach a chance to reply, I simply kissed her softly on the lips and all but bolted to our bedroom, slamming the door after me as if she was chasing me for answers.

0o0o0

Two hours later, I was feeling kinda surprised that Rach hadn't barged in to demand that I tell her what the hell was the matter with me. Another thirty minutes went by with me sitting on our colossal bed and trying to make my body go back out to tell her the damned truth.

Finally, I catapulted off the bed and slowly managed to make my way out of the bedroom to locate my wife. Fuck, I really hoped the whole thing wasn't gonna blow up in my face. We'd always lived our lives together with the firm notion that we were gonna be totally honest with each other – in particular after we both got famous and the media tried to tear us apart regularly.

I was so caught up in castigating myself for my cowardice that it took me a little while to realize that Rach was nowhere to be seen. I didn't get a chance to worry before I walked towards my office where I'd last seen her and heard a sound that next to my sobbing kids I hated the most.

Crying.

Stopping in the doorway, my entire body froze at the sight of my wife. She was crumbled in a heap in my massive chair, tears running down her face. It was the sound that hurt the most though, huge wrecking sobs that sounded like a mix between gasping and wailing.

This was not the happy woman I'd walked away from mere hours before, and it completely stumped me as to what had happened since I left. Suddenly, my heart started beating faster. Had something happened to the kids?

I was just about to ask, when my eyes landed on my computer and I instantly felt like a giant idiot. There, right where I'd left it was the google page which pretty much told Rachel all she had to know. This was so not the way I wanted her to find out, so I did the only thing that popped into my head.

It only took a second to walk over and kneel in front of her, gripping her thighs to make her aware of my presence in the most physical way I could think of. "Baby, I'm so fucking sorry. Please don't cry. Shh…It's gonna be okay, I promise."

Rach hiccupped as she spoke, her voice so timid and fearful it was almost unrecognizable. "Please don't leave me like Daddy did. I won't survive without you."

"Argh, fuck," the curse left my lips even as I reached up and enveloped Rach in my arms, wishing that this fucking disease was a nightmare I just hadn't woken up from yet.

After a while of us just relishing each other's nearness, Rach pulled back and placed her hands on my cheeks, lifting my face to meet her sorrowful gaze. "Tell me everything, Noah. I need to know all that you know so I won't lose my mind."

"Okay, Rach," I sighed and began my tale solemnly, "It's stage 3 and I'm getting the last tests done tomorrow to see if it's spread to my other organs. Judging from the symptoms, it may have, but the survival rate is—"

"I know what it is," Rachel interrupted quietly, caressing my face and stroking those little grey hairs that were the only proof of my age that she for some reason adored. "What'll happen next?"

"Surgery no matter what," I muttered, trying to lighten the mood with a joke. "Thank fuck we've already got four kids, huh?"

"Noah, please."

Sighing again, I continued more seriously, 'cause she deserved the truth. "Chemo is a necessity and if it's spread I'm gonna have to go under the knife again."

"Oh my God." The words were soft-spoken, but the amount of pain that I could sense in them damn near broke my heart.

"Rachel," I began, only to be interrupted again when she shook her head firmly and then placed her forehead against mine.

"No, Noah," she whispered, "I'm a grown woman and I will handle this – We will handle this together like we've done everything else. I love you more than anything and I am not ready to let this dreadful disease steal away another loved one of mine. I simply refuse, so you have to promise me that you'll fight it with all of your might, Noah Puckerman or I shall never, and I repeat never, forgive you."

I could feel the burn of oncoming tears in my eyes, and while half of me wanted to berate myself for being a God damn pussy, the rest of me was moved beyond comprehension by the sheer desperation in her tone. Also, my wife's words gave me the strength to admit something I hadn't voluntarily admitted to myself or anyone yet.

"Fuck, Rach," I cried, allowing those tears to escape for the first time since finding out the truth, "I'm so scared. I don't wanna die. I'm not gonna be able to handle this without you."

Rachel smiled and smoothly wiped away my tears without looking away from me. In that moment, she reminded me of the strong teenage girl that had overcome the stigma of unpopularity and teenage pregnancy and everything else life had decided to throw at her without breaking. "Luckily for you, Noah, you won't ever have to."

0o0o0