Note From The Author—So this is my first Glee story, and I'm hoping you'll forgive me any bumps in the road since I'm still trying to find my footing with this particular area. This will be a multi chapter to fill the horrid void that soon be left until April due to freaking American Idol. Feedback, as long as constructive, is always appreciated. Let me know how I'm doing!

Disclaimer—I do not own the characters of Glee, and the song used herein belongs to Nickleback

"I told you to leave her alone Puckerman!"

Rachel Berry came to a screeching halt outside the classroom door as she head Mercedes' words. What were Mercedes and Noah even doing together?

"Look, this isn't your business! This is between me and Quinn."

Outside, Rachel dared a glance into the room just in time to see Mercedes back Puck into a wall with a loud smack.

"Quinn made her decision Puck, and she chose Finn, again. She doesn't want you in that baby's life."

She was up in his personal space, and he got right back up in hers. "It's my baby too. She doesn't just get to decide everything!"

Mercedes snorted. "Please, we all know what you do with your spare time. You don't get to decide anything because you can't even manage to focus your attention on one girl for more than five seconds. Santana and Rachel ring a bell?"

At the sound of her name Rachel jerked back, hiding behind the door. This couldn't be happening. Could it?

"Get something through your head, Jones." His voice was low and dark, just edging on threatening. "Just because I got pissed and let all this shit slip doesn't mean you get a say in anything. You think I don't get that I'm a fuck up? I got that. But I also get that I'm not going to walk away from this. Do whatever the hell you want, but don't expect me to abandon my daughter."

The sound of heavy footfalls had their unknown witness fleeing down the hall, but she turned just in time to see the pair of them exit the classroom. Puck was first, glowering at anything and anyone who got in his way as he turned left; Mercedes came soon after, frowning unhappily as she went right.

As her fellow Glee clubbers went their separate ways, Rachel fell back against the nearest locker, her heart beating a rapid tattoo. She couldn't pretend that she didn't know what she had just heard. Knowing it all gave her too much power and she didn't know how she would face Finn at practice that day. But more than that, the giant enigma that was Noah Puckerman had suddenly become just a little bit less of a mystery. Suddenly something unknown came over her, and though she never thought that it would have been her intent, she found herself heading left down the hall.

It hadn't taken a genius to figure out where Puck had gone after he had stormed away from his latest confrontation. Between the direction he had gone and the guitar in his hand it was a sure bet that he had gone to the auditorium. Though he had joined Glee with ulterior motives, Rachel had seen the supposed jock blossom under Mr. Schuester's tutelage. He liked to play it cool, but it was clear how much he enjoyed playing the guitar and he could belt one out just as well as Finn and Kurt. It was also proving to be some sort of an outlet for him seeing as the frequency of his fistfights had at least lessened.

Later Rachel would have to examine why it was that she had gone after Puck instead of running straight off to tell Finn the truth and open her arms to him, but in the moment she only knew that something was wrong, and she wanted to fix it.

She opened the door to the auditorium quietly, not wanting to disturb Noah if he was in the middle of something. Sure enough he was sitting on a stool at center stage, turned on an angle away from the door and strumming his guitar. He was so lost in himself that he didn't seem to see her; so without hesitancy she took a seat and listened to him play. It was a song she knew well if only because it had been on the radio so much. The tune was somewhat melancholy, and it seemed to fit his mood to a t. Settling in, she let her bag slide to the floor, closed her eyes and listened.

The song spun out slowly, and Puck could feel his emotions bleeding into the words. "And in the air the fireflies, our only light in paradise. We'll show the world that they were wrong and teach them all to sing along. Sing amen I, I'm alive. Singing amen I, I'm alive. If everyone cared and nobody cried, if everyone loved and nobody lied…" He trailed off as his voice cracked. When the hell had he become such a wuss? With a sigh, he spoke without lifting his head from his guitar. "What are you doing here Berry?"

Rachel just about jumped out of her skin as he spoke. "How did you know I was here?"

"It's an epic mystery with your terrifying ninja powers," he drawled sarcastically. There was a dead silence and he looked up into her frowning face. "I heard the door shut, Berry. What do you want?"

"Well first off, considering that your hand has been on my behind and you spent a week calling me baby, I think you could manage to use my name."

His eyes just about rolled into the back of his head. "Fine. What do you want RACHEL?"

She stood, smoothing her skirt down as she rose to make her way up the stairs onto the stage. "I saw you leave the rehearsal room, and I thought something might be wrong."

Puck finally looked up at her, his eyes filled with something she couldn't quite decipher. "I'm fine B… Rachel." He gave a half hearted smirk that gave away the oncoming innuendo. "I'm always fine."

Now it was her turned to roll her eyes. "I'm sure you want to pretend you are, but clearly you're deflecting." She was floundering, not knowing what to do with herself in this situation. "You and Mercedes looked pretty upset when you went your different ways a minute ago."

"Leave it alone," he growled.

"I know," she whispered quietly.

He stiffened. "You know what?"

Rachel's eyes were sad as she looked down at him. "The baby is yours isn't it Noah?"

"Is there any use in me pretending that you're not right?"

"I heard you and Mercedes arguing earlier." Her hand came to rest on his arm. "Noah, I'm so sorry."

Puck shrugged her hand off angrily. "Whatever Berry." He let his guitar drop to the floor as he moved away from her to sit on the edge of the stage.

She shook her head. "Please don't pretend it doesn't matter to you. I heard you talking about her."

"It doesn't matter."

"But it does." Rachel followed his path to the edge of the stage and struggled to sit without flashing him. She noted that he was still Puck enough not to offer her a hand, but that he was consumed enough by his thoughts not to sneak a peak at her legs when she sat. "Whatever has happened between you and Quinn she's carrying your baby, and you should have a say."

He gave an exasperated sigh. "Why the hell did you even come in here? Shouldn't you have gone running off to tell Finn what you heard so that you can get him all to yourself?" he asked bitterly.

Rachel shook her head. "You may not see us as friends Noah, but I do. We may have only dated for a little while but I feel like there's a connection between us; enough of a connection that what I heard made me worried for you."

For probably only the second or third time in his life, Noah Puckerman was momentarily speechless. Nobody other than his mother and little sister had ever given two shits about him, and suddenly this teeny little Glee freak with her practically non-existent skirts and her crazy Broadway ambition seemed to actually care what happened to him and how he was feeling. He didn't know what to do with it. "Why?" he asked quietly, his eyes meeting hers.

"I told you, I'd like to think we've become friends. I care about you, Noah, even if you don't want me to."

It caught him off guard, and after months of keeping quiet about things to anybody other than Quinn, he found himself wanting to break down and tell this strange girl everything. Their eyes were still locked together, and he saw hers soften even more as some of what he was feeling slipped through. "Nothing I want matters anyway. I screwed up Rachel. I slept with my best friend's girlfriend and knocked her up."

"That doesn't mean you can never go back."

"Sure, because I've done a real great job since I found out Quinn was pregnant. Offering her the money for Artie's bus and sexting with Santana while we were babysitting, dating you to try and screw with her."

She shook her head. "Why do you do it then, if you know it's so wrong?"

"I don't know." Puck looked down at his hands. "I'm good at being a callous bad ass, and yes I know what callous means."

Scooting closer, Rachel tried to keep the conversation rolling. "You know I would never question your badassness Noah, but I think we both know there's more to this, and to you, than just sex appeal and lovely arms."

Sometimes he could barely decipher the things she said, but this time he managed and shook his head. "I told you, none of this matters, because she doesn't want me involved. I've tried to prove that I can be a good father, and I manage to screw it the hell up every time."

What she was about to do was a risk, but she felt it was one worth taking. Reaching out, she took her hand in his, twining their fingers together. Noah's hand tightened momentarily then relaxed into the grip of her delicate fingers. "You love her don't you, the baby?"

"More than I've ever loved anything." He looked over at her with a faux severe look. "But I'll shove you in a trash can if you ever tell anyone I actually have feelings."

Rachel smiled back. "Your secret's safe with me."

They sat there in silence for a while, neither of them quite sure where to go from that point. Finally, with tears in his voice that he would swear up and down had never been there, Puck spoke. "I want that baby."

He had opened up to her, and that made her even more bold than she had been moments before. Taking another huge risk, she leaned her head against his shoulder, and when he didn't pull away she sighed against his t-shirt. "I know, Noah."