Noah "Puck" Puckerman sat in his room throwing a baseball against the wall waiting for his roommate to come back from his class so the two could go to practice. It wasn't much but ever since he graduated from high school, Noah had really taken a liking to baseball. He never expected to fall in love with the sport, but he did, and now it was all that he really cared about. Well, it wasn't the only thing he cared about. There was still the matter of his high school sweetheart, the one that got away. He knew he would always care about her and their little girl.

He continued to toss the ball until he threw it too hard and it ended up bouncing into his desk drawer. As he grabbed the ball, he noticed a photograph sticking out from one of his books. Noah smiled as he knew exactly who was in the picture. He placed his ball on the desk and pulled the photo out of the book and there they were.

"My girls," he said aloud as he read the handwriting he had put on the photo a few years back. They were beautiful, he remembered as he thought about when the picture was taken. It was one of the few they had of Beth and Quinn together and it was taken in the hospital. The little blonde haired baby looked just like her mom, even then, Noah thought as he examined the picture.

"Five months," he said to himself. "I managed to go five months without thinking of you," he laughed. "It must be some kind of record."

"And you baby girl," he continued as he lifted a few books from his drawer and pulled out three more pictures, all of Beth. One was from a photo shoot Shelby had gotten done when Beth was four. She was absolutely stunning in her little pink sundress and blonde curls. The other picture was Beth when she saw Santa for the first time and the third was from Beth's first Halloween when she went as the most adorable little pumpkin.

Noah smiled as he looked at these pictures. With the exception of a few videos and letters Shelby sent him, these pictures were the only things he had to remember his daughter. Not that he would ever forget her though he thought.

"My girls," he repeated as he kissed the photos and put them back in his drawer. As he locked the drawer he looked up to see his roommate and best friend standing in the doorway.

"What cha doin'" Declan Cooper asked as he plopped on top of his bed, trying to see what his friend was hiding.

"Nothing," Noah said as he grabbed his ball off of the desk. "How did your test go?"

"Well, I definitely passed," Declan said confidently.

"Oh really?" Noah laughed. "So when you say passed, you mean you definitely got a C right?"

"Real funny NP," Declan commented as he threw a pillow at Noah. "I really don't care if it's an A, B or C at this point as long as I get to play baseball."

"So what now?" Noah asked. "Do you have to wait for the results?"

"Mrs. Knack and Coach J said I can go to practice today," Declan informed Noah. "She'll grade my test tonight and if I get my C or better, I'm officially reinstated to the team."

"That's great Dec," Noah smiled as he looked around the room, no sight of Declan anywhere. "I guess we better get going then."

"Way ahead of you bro," Declan said as he emerged from the closet. Tossing Noah his baseball bag, Declan slung his over his shoulder and took the ball from Noah's desk. "Race you to the field?"

"You're on," Noah said, quickly sprinting out of the room.

The two raced until they reached the field, a triumphant Noah finishing first.

"No fair, you got a head start," Declan complained once he reached the field.

"Maybe," Noah smirked, "but I still would have beaten you anyway."

"Doubtful," Declan said as he unloaded his gear. "Now come on, let's start practicing our game plan for next week. It will give me a chance to tell you about this honey I met a few weeks ago."

Noah rolled his eyes. He loved Declan, he really did, but his total swag and way with the ladies reminded Noah so much of his old high school days, behavior he wasn't always proud of. What he was proud of though, was that for the most part he had left that life behind. He still dated and still hooked up with girls, but he became more about relationships than one night stands. Quinn did that to him, he realized. She made him want to want to commit to a relationship, to one singular person. He had just wished that she had wanted him to make the ultimate commitment. He wished he had the courage to ask her what he always wanted to. One question, four little words, but he couldn't do it and he regretted it, because without knowing it at the time, it meant losing her, losing the best thing that ever happened him and that's when his problems began.

Noah chose to attend the University of Connecticut because he had done the math. Yale was only 50 miles away and he figured he could visit Quinn whenever he wanted. Unfortunately it didn't end up working out that way. She had wanted to make a clean break and he was forced to oblige.

As much as Noah ended up loving UConn, his freshman year brought with it a dark past and memories he would never forget. He couldn't change what happened, even though he wanted to and he had to learn to accept it. He wasn't proud of it and he knew if his daughter ever found out, he would hate himself even more than he already did, but still, he had to face the fact that it happened. He hadn't wanted to, but in just one night, he proved to himself that he wasn't good enough to be with Quinn.

Every once in a while when he looked in the mirror, he found traces of the old Puck, but that life was behind him now. He left Puck and everything about him back in Lima, Ohio. At UConn, he became Noah or NP as his teammates called him. No one here knew about his past, no one knew he was a teenage father, no one knew about glee club. Quinn didn't exist, Rachel didn't exist, Finn didn't exist, none of them existed. He moved on, he forgot, he left that life behind.