Author's Note: I love this song and, the first time I heard it after starting to watch Glee, I realized it's perfect for a PR story. This is going to have a sucky ending, because I'm writing this at the airport while I wait to board up the plane back home.

Summary: She had loved that song when they first heard it. It was now ironic how it matched her life.

Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy (who thank God is considering to revisit Puck and Rachel's relationship), and the song is property of Hinder.

Lips of an Angel

A single-chaptered Puckleberry story

By Unsuspecting Sunday Afternoon

Noah sighed deeply as he rubbed his bleary, red-rimmed eyes. It was late in a warm June night, and Quinn slept in the bedroom, exhausted, while he tried to deal with their quiet, but very awake baby girl. Beatrice Puckerman was two-months-old now and still had a crazy sleeping pattern (which was normal at her age according to his mother), choosing to sleep through the day and stay hyper and awake into the night. Usually, Quinn was the one to stay up taking care of Beatrice, but she was exhausted that night and had half-begged, half-ordered him to take over so she could rest a bit. Never one to pass up a chance to be with his baby girl, he agreed.

With her mother's porcelain skin and dark golden hair, and her father's hazel eyes, Bee was born in early April, two weeks after Quinn's due date. With Quinn's deal with Mrs. Schue having been revealed months before, in the aftermath of the latter's fake pregnancy coming to light, and the baby's true paternity following suit, Noah had reached out for his baby mama and told her to move in so they could work things out and be a family. She agreed, and they were a family now, somewhat – but at the expense of his longtime friendship with Finn and romantic relationship with Rachel (realizing Noah now had everything he wanted, she graciously broke up with him telling him she was no homewrecker – and not giving him the opportunity to explain that he didn't want to be like that with Quinn).

He tried to make Rachel see that he still wanted her to be his girlfriend, but with Quinn's due date quickly approaching, things were hectic at the Puckerman's household and when he took a time to rest, more than two months had passed, Beatrice Annabelle Puckerman (a.k.a Bee) was born and everyone assumed he and Quinn were a couple now. After it was revealed that he was the father, Rachel avoided him (and Quinn) like the plague, even skipping the baby shower and the glee club group visit to Quinn and Bee at the maternity ward after the birth. Tina just looked sadly at him when he discretely asked where Rachel was, and Mercedes added quietly, "It would hurt too much, Puck".

(Two weeks later, rumors began to swirl that Rachel Berry had found herself a new boyfriend. It wasn't news for Noah. The lucky bastard was Aaron Michaels, son of their rabbi, and Noah had seen them together firsthand at their temple. Aaron had carried a torch for Rachel since the day she grew boobs and curves on all the right places, and she finally had given in to him begging her to go on a date with him).

(Noah was slightly – okay, very – pleased with the fact that Rachel looked happier with him than with James).

Shaking off the memories, he took Bee's baby carrier with him to the living room, turned on the TV (he liked to watch Conan O'Brien, the guy had wits) and waited. His daughter got fussy after a while, and so he tried to guess what she wanted before she began to wail and ended up waking Quinn up.

After feeding her and then checking her diaper (it was clean) and then rocking her, Noah started getting desperate. He then laid down on his mother's very uncomfortable couch and placed his baby on his chest, breathing evenly and deeply so his heartbeats would relax the child and lull her to sleep. It didn't work like that – but Bee calmed down, and so he relaxed. "You're so beautiful, you know?" He whispered, heart swelling with love for his dark-haired, brown eyed little girl.

The silence of the night was interrupted by a single, quiet beep. Noah startled slightly and, putting a large hand against Bee's soft, delicate back, he reached out for his shorts' pocket, fishing his cell-phone out. Pressing a button while making shushing noises to calm Bee down, he glanced at the caller ID – and his mouth went dry as he recognized the unregistered number. I miss you, read the text she had sent, and he blinked, whispering, "I miss you too".

Taking a deep breath, he put Bee back on the baby carrier and tiptoed into the bedroom, quietly reaching for a shirt. Picking up pen and paper, he wrote a note for Quinn in case she woke up before he returned from his little trip (Bee was fussy. Took her out for a ride), took the keys and wrapped a thick wool blanket around Beatrice before carrying her out of the house. "C'mon, happy girl. Let's go see someone".

*

The house he had grown to know so well was dark and quiet fo the night when he parked in front of it. The window next to the tree had no light filtering through the drapes, but Noah picked his phone and dialed the number he had learnt to heart without considering that its owner could be asleep (he knew she wasn't). She picked up after the first ring, her voice low and soft, and he said, "It's me. I'm outside. I have Bee and she couldn't sleep, so... Can you come out and give me a hand?"

There was a silence, then a click, and he slammed his forehead against the wheel, fighting the urge to groan in anger. He should have known better, she wasn't speaking to him for months now, why would she bother to help him with his baby. Right now, he felt like a stupid ass who made himself look like a pansy stalker in front of his ex (for whom he still had feelings).

A quiet, single knock on his closed window made him look up, and he blinked, startled, as his hazel eyes met her doe brown ones. She signaled for him to open the door, which he hurried to do, and she hopped in the warm truck cabin, shivering slightly as the warm air licked her cool skin. Noah took her appearance in for a minute, frowning. She wore a large pink wool blouse and a pair of white gym shorts. From what he remembered, the shorts used to fit her pretty snugly, so it worried him that they were loosely sitting at her hipbone. "You've lost weight", he said before he could refrain himself. She scowled at him, pulling the blouse down so it covered part of her (delectable) thighs.

"You've called me late at night to comment on my weight?" She asked coolly, and he bit back a sarcastic retort – now that she was there, the last thing he wanted to do was to fight with her. The silence grew thick with unspoken words and repressed feelings, but was broken by the quiet whimper of Bee. She whirled her head towards the soft sound, so quick that he was surprised she didn't get whiplash, and looked perplexed at his little girl.

"This is her?" She whispered, voice small and quivery.

He nodded. "Rachel Barbara Berry, meet Beatrice Annabelle Puckerman, or Bee".

Rachel held out a finger to the little, dark-golden haired, hazel-eyed girl, who gurgled happily and clutched at it. "Hey, baby girl. Oh, Noah, she's so beautiful", she breathed. "She has your eyes".

Noah's heart thundered and broke at the same time. It thundered because the girl he loved had finally met his princess, and broke because this scene would never replay in broad daylight. "Yeah... That's my gorgeous little princess".

Carefully picking Bee up, Rachel began humming softly, and the child snuggled to her. The brunette kept her eyes fixed at the contented child, urging the tears that threatened to well in her eyes to stay at bay. This was supposed to be her child, this stunning little girl with his golden-freckled irises. She breathed deeply and said quietly, "Have you tried to sing for her? I was humming, and she quieted".

"She likes your voice", he said softly. "I was thinking maybe we could put together an impromptu jam session for Bee?"

She pondered the suggestion. Her head kept telling her to refuse and walk away from this boy and his entrancing daughter, but her devastated heart yelled at her to stay there, to savor the stolen moments she could pretend this was her daughter and she was still his girl. After months of ignoring her heart's demands, she gave in. It would break her more later, but... She needed this. "Which song do you have in mind?"

"You remember that band whose pocket show we went to? Hinder?" He asked and, when she nodded, looking up at him with eyes clouded with sadness, he began to softly strum his guitar. "It's a duet, okay? I begin".

The tears won the battle and filled her tired eyes, as his warm, quiet baritone filled the silent cabin.

Honey why you're calling me so late?

It's kinda hard to talk right now

Honey why are you crying?

Is everything okay?

I gotta whisper cause I can't be too loud

Well, my girl's the next room

Sometimes I wish she was you

I guess we never really moved on

With tears running down her face, Rachel flinched slightly at the 'my girl' bit, but, since she knew it was in the lyrics (she had loved that song when Hinder played at the pocket show. It was ironic now how much it matched her life), her quiet, soft voice joined his for the chorus. Nestled into the brunette's arms, Beatrice looked sleepily at her father, undisturbed by Rachel's hitched breathing.

It's really good to hear your voice

Saying my name

It sounds so sweet

Coming from the lips of an angel

Hearing those words, it makes me weak

And I never wanna say goodbye

But girl you make it hard to be faithful

With lips of an angel

Rachel took a deep breath as Noah began singing the next verse. Looking down, she realized his daughter was soundly asleep, so she carefully reached out and found a blanket on the baby carrier. Taking extra caution not the wake the slumbering child, she wrapped the blanket around the tiny body, tucking it so the cool, crisp air wouldn't seep into the coccoon she had built.

Noah smiled softly at the scene in front of him. It was so beautiful. Rachel with his daughter on her arms, it made his heart clench with the desire that he secretly held, that Rachel one day would realize they could work out together despite him and Quinn being forever linked to each other through Bee.

It's funny that you're calling me tonight

And yes, I've dreamt of you too

And does he know you're calling me?

Will it start a fight?

No, I don't think she has a clue

Wrong, Noah thought as Rachel took over the chorus, singing very softly. Quinn had a clue that Noah was unhappy, that he longed to be with Rachel. He knew his baby mama had tried to reach out for Rachel, but the tiny brunette had politely but firmly refused. Quinn was now brainstorming on how she could help Noah and Rachel, and for that he was thankful.

After Rachel finished singing, she turned to look out, taking the chance to discretely wipe her eyes. "Here. She's asleep", she said quietly, passing him the baby. Rachel fiddled with the door knob, and said, "Well, I'm gonna go now, Noah. It was a pleasure to finally meet your daughter, and to help you lull her to sleep".

"Yeah, thanks for that", he whispered. But, before she could make a move out of the truck, he held her wrist. His skin tingled where it touched hers, and she looked up at him, helplessly. "Rach... I love you. You know that, right?"

She nodded softly, her voice fragile. "I love you too, Noah, but we can't".

"Why not? Tell me why we can't. And do not use my daughter as an excuse, Bee deserves to grow up with parents, yes, but Quinn and I don't have to be together to be fit parents for her. Hell, Quinn and I don't want to be together, she's in love with Finn, the idiot, and I'm yours!"

She looked doubtful for a moment, before looking down at his hand, locked around her wrist, before nodding slowly. "Okay", she whispered.

"Okay?" He repeated, dumbly.

She giggled quietly. "Yes".

He grinned and pulled her to him, crushing her full, soft lips with his own. She gave in but, before it could grow too heated, she gently pushed him away. He frowned at her, but she gave a glance at his soundly asleep little girl. "You have to take her home", she said with a smile, and he nodded.

"Kay... I'll come – We'll come tomorrow, okay? Both me and baby Bee".

"Fine", she smiled as she jumped out of the truck, careful not the slam the door close and wake Beatrice up. "I love you", she mouthed to him, and he grinned, drawing a heart on the steamed up windows.