Disclaimer/Prompt: See Part One.


Rachel spent the next month either working nearly non-stop or looking for a teaching position for the fall. Her only saving grace on that front had been her union rep reassuring her that there honestly were no positions for music teachers due to budget cuts and that it had nothing to do with her now expunged file with Social Services.

She survived through her final inspection by Marcy Hanning, carefully avoiding the amused smirk the older woman sent her way when she spotted a photo taken at National's during Rachel's senior year (where Puck had an arm casually thrown around her neck); and the woman assured her she was more then certain this would be the last time they would ever need to see each other.

Elyse was thankfully excited that should would be attending school in Brooklyn with her best friend and had been spending every spare minute with Katie either at the local pool or at their community center where she could take dance and music lessons for free; and if Rachel was cringing over the quality of lessons the girls were probably receiving, she kept that to herself and just tried to correct anything she could at home.

All in all, Rachel was finally starting to settle back into her life.

Which was why she hated the fact that she was currently sitting at her kitchen table staring at her bank statement, a pile of bills (rent, student loans, utilities and credit) and her checkbook while internally debating seeing if there were any teaching jobs available in Ohio. She had sworn fourteen years ago when her father's cut her off for "ruining her life" that she would never go crawling back to that town. She had stubbornly told them that she and Finn were going to be happy and raise their daughter together and prove them wrong. In the back of her mind she could still hear the, "We told you so's" that she received from them after Finn left her and she had called them in a moment of weakness, hoping that they'd be willing to help with money; if not for her then for their granddaughter. She didn't want to even think what their reaction had been to receiving a call from the CPS office had been; though she wouldn't be surprised if they had informed whomever called that they didn't have a daughter.

That was all the more reason Rachel thanked God daily for the Hummel's. Carole had told her daughter in law outright, a few months after the fact once they all realized that not only was Finn gone but he apparently wasn't going to be sending money, that Finn had shamed her and that she was on Rachel's side in the whole mess. Since then the couple had sent what little extra money they could whenever it was available and while it hadn't ever been much, at times, especially in the beginning it had always been enough to at least keep Elyse fed and clothed so Rachel could focus on their rent.

Her cell phone singing Neil Diamond caused her to jump and stare at the phone in shock; despite their conversation outside of Puck's office Rachel hadn't actually expected him to call. He had never been the type of man who wanted "baggage" and a thirteen year old, much as she adored her daughter, was usually classified as such. It was the ringtone that really surprised her though and the answering sound of two giggling girls from the living room that clued her in to who had set the tone up.

"I should have never told you that story," Rachel called to her daughter as she grabbed her phone and answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Noah," his voice practically melted over the line and into her ear, sending a shiver down Rachel's spine.

"Noah, huh? Not Puck?" she joked, trying to keep her distance to friends. She needed friends; nothing else. It would be far too easy to let this man in again as he had owned a very large part of her heart since the day he told her he loved her in their senior year, if not longer.

"I'm thirty-two Rach, give me some credit. The only people I've introduced myself as Puck to since boot have been kids I work with in order to break the ice, do you really think I'm going to use it with you of all people?"

"I guess not," she admitted. "I didn't really think you'd call."

"I said I would," he replied simply and she could almost picture his expression. It would be set somewhere between confusion and exasperation. "Besides, Marcy just came in and told me to get off my ass and call you since she closed out your case last week. Apparently you have an 'absolutely adorable' picture of us in your living room."

"I wouldn't call it adorable," Rachel mumbled, slightly embarrassed. "It's that picture from Regional's senior year."

"Ohhhh, I know which one you're talking about," he replied and Rachel could hear his smirk. They had sung the duet that year, something that Finn had hated but the rest of the club had backed after pointing out that they'd never won a damn thing when Finn had sung with Rachel. "So, how've you been?"

"Noah Puckerman making small talk. Color me shocked."

"Yea, yea. I had a long day. I could do with some mindless conversation," he responded, exhaustion seeping into his tone and drawing out Rachel's natural compassion.

"Everything okay?"

"Not really, same shit different day. I had to remove three kids from the care of their crack addicted mother this morning. You can see why we weren't too concerned about your situation."

Rachel blinked in shock and tried for formulate a response but for once found herself speechless.

"Don't worry," he continued. "I really wasn't looking for sympathy. Dinner however?"

"I don't know Noah. I'm really busy and I wanted to spend some time with Elyse tonight," she tried to deflect but the phone was yanked out of her hand before she could finish. "Hey!" she exclaimed to her daughter.

"Puck? Hi, it's Elyse. Did you just ask my Mom out?" she watched her far too precocious daughter begin a conversation with her high school ex-boyfriend and tried fixing her most terrifying "mother" look to dissuade the teenager from continuing. "You did? Good. She needs to get out for something other then work. She's not that old yet. Dinner tonight? Wait, lemme grab a pen," Elyse continued and ran down the hall towards her room, taking the cell phone with her and leaving Rachel standing shocked in the middle of the kitchen with Katie.

"I am her mother right?"

"Sometimes I'm not so sure Mrs. H," Katie replied with a bright smile. "Lyse can stay at our place tonight if you've got a date; especially if it's with the hottie with the 'hawk. You really do need to get out more."

"I'm taking dating advice from my thirteen year old daughter and her best friend," Rachel muttered looking up at the ceiling and shaking her head. "And I'm actually taking it seriously."

"Great," she heard her daughter's voice again as she came back down the hallway. "She'll meet you there. And no funny stuff Doc." Rachel could hear Noah's laughter over the line just before her daughter hung up on him and handed Rachel back her cell phone. "Okay, so you're meeting him at Il Palazzo on Mulberry Street at seven tonight. He thought you were vegan? What's that all about? Ick, vegetables, gross," she began explaining and when she didn't receive any reaction other then a raised eyebrow, that Rachel was used to using whenever vegetables were mentioned (her years as a parent might have taught her to pick her battles; but this was one she was going to win some day). Elyse just shrugged the look off and continued, "It's 4 o'clock now and it's going to take you about an hour to get into Manhattan. So, go shower!"

Rachel jumped and found herself being hurried down the hall by two thirteen year olds, one of which was chanting, "Mommy's got a date. Mommy's got a date," the entire way down the hall. Right after she was deposited in the bathroom, but before the door was pulled shut unceremoniously in her face, Rachel asked one single question, "How long until you go to college again?"

The answering mischievous but incredibly happy giggles reminded her why she was glad the answer to that question was, "Not for a nice long couple of a years."

A little under two hours later Rachel was putting on her earrings and taking one last look at herself in the mirror of her bedroom; the girls sprawled across her bed behind her. Elyse had picked out a stunning black cocktail dress that came to just below her knees (that Kurt had described as "Hepburnesque" when he gave it to her for her birthday this past March), black stiletto heels and a simple strand of pearls.

"Well, how do I look?" she asked, grabbing for her black clutch.

"Amazing," they both replied through giggles. "Uncle Kurt taught me well. He told me when you were my age you wore, "interesting" clothing," Elyse added looking confused for a second. She then added, "That reminds me, who's Chris Hansen?"

Rachel groaned and covered her face with her hands, mentally reminding herself that she needed to have another conversation with Kurt about what was and what was not appropriate conversation topics to have with a thirteen year old. It was reminders like this that made her realize exactly why her brother-in-law, and best friend, still hadn't settled down himself. As much as she adored him, she still wanted to slap a higher level of maturity into him on a daily basis.

Shaking off her exasperated thoughts, Rachel quickly changed the subject to one that had been bothering her since Elyse had stolen her phone, "Shouldn't you be more freaked out by this Lyse? I mean, I'm going on a date, no, nevermind, I'm going to dinner with an old friend. Isn't this against the rules of the single parent handbook?"

"Mom?" Elyse replied, the dry sarcasm, something else she had picked up from her Uncle, seeping into her tone. "If I'm okay with my Grandmother, that would be my sperm donor's mother, constantly asking me if you've finally met someone nice; then I really think I'm okay with you going out with the guy you've been in love with since you were seventeen."

Rachel's jaw dropped open at her daughter's knowing look and she immediately reached out and ruffled her hair, "Watch your tone missy. It's complicated. And I did love your father."

"I know you did, for all the good that did you," Elyse muttered, causing Rachel to flinch slightly. She really, truly hated the fact that her beautiful child was so bitter on the subject of Finn. However justified it might be, it wasn't ever something Rachel had ever tried to encourage. "Besides, what's so complicated? You've told me all about it. You two had all these chances that you kept screwing up for Dad. Then when you finally really get together he's all selfless 'cause he doesn't want you giving up your dreams to follow him around from base to base until his time in the Marines was up. Which, if you ask me, is super romantic. Then you stupidly go back to Dad instead of fighting Puck on that decision. And now, it's like kismeck, you found each other again. Now if it was some other douchebag I'd probably be throwing a tantrum."

"First of all, don't say douchebag. Secondly, it's kismet," Rachel began and then reached over to pull her daughter tight into a hug. "Thirdly, without all of that happening I wouldn't have you. And there is nothing I would change about my past for that reason alone," she whispered the last part and pressed a kiss against her daughter's temple smiling when she felt Elyse's arms tighten around her.

"I love you too Mommy."

"Now, you two, next door. Let's go, I have to get a subway. Scoot," she broke the hug and swatted Elyse on her backside ushering them towards the front door.

Rolling her eyes and grabbing a light wrap for her shoulders Rachel followed the giggling duo out of the apartment, locking the door and waving at Karen Ellison as she ushered the girls into her own apartment for the evening.


Puck found himself waiting outside the restaurant at twenty to seven; it was only a Wednesday so he wasn't concerned about getting a table, but he didn't want to risk Rachel arriving early and backing out. Elyse had warned him on the phone that could be a possibility; apparently Rachel didn't ever date according to her daughter. Now, in most single parent situations, Puck would assume that Elyse just didn't know about her Mother's personal life; but taking into account what he remembered about Rachel, he was going to guess that her daughter might be completely accurate.

All that meant was that tonight needed to be perfect. He was fairly certain Rachel was going to try and steer him straight into the friend zone, and while he was perfectly willing to move at a slower pace for her sake, he wasn't going to be sidelined back into the friendship he had suffered through most of High School.

When he finally saw her approaching from up the block he loosened his shoulders and tried to appear as relaxed as he didn't feel; because if he thought she had been beautiful with tear streaks on her face under fluorescent lighting, then in the fading summer sun dressed all in black she was stunning. He was also very thankful he had taken the time to head over to his apartment in Chelsea to change into a suit before dinner.

"Hey," he greeted her casually, grasping the hand she held out to him and kissing it with a smirk that echoed back to their high school days. "You look amazing."

"Thank you Noah. You look very dapper yourself. I almost forgot how well you clean up," she joked back with a smile and making him think he might like this more mature, apparently relaxed, Rachel even more then he had her younger counterpart. "Shall we head inside?"

He smiled back at her and in a moment of what he thought might be sheer brilliance, he offered her his arm and said simply, "Walk with me." It wasn't until a second later when Rachel threw her head back and laughed before looping her arm through his that he finally fully relaxed and led her into the restaurant.

They were immediately seated at a small table near the window and while Rachel got herself situated he ordered them a bottle of wine and relaxed back into his chair, content to just watch her. The silence only stretched for a minute or two before Rachel finally broke, "Okay what is it?"

"Nothing," he told her honestly. "I've just missed you. You seem so different; but, at the same time, not at all."

"It has been fourteen years Noah," Rachel reminded him with a sad smile. "And, I've been through a lot."

"Yea," he agreed quietly as he straightened up in his seat and reached across the table to take her hand in his again. He let his thumb ghost across her knuckles lightly, reassured by the fact that she didn't wrench her hand away, and thought about how to ask the one question that had been bothering him since he found out about her situation. He finally just blurted it out, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Which part?" she questioned, a cynical twist in her voice he wasn't used to. "You were leaving for boot camp; not that it mattered, Elyse is Finn's daughter. This isn't about that is it Noah? Because, we hadn't been together for months by the time I slept with Finn. I waited a hell of a lot longer with him then I did with you," she continued, a quiet steel in her voice that made him think she was getting ready to protect herself as if she anticipated some form of attack from him. Seconds later she seemed to deflate and added so quietly he almost couldn't hear her, "But, then, it was always different with us wasn't it?"

"Always," he quickly reassured her, a soft smile that only she could bring out on his face. "And believe me, I never would think for a second you'd do that to me. But, we were still friends Rach. Good friends. That was one of the rules of the break-up remember? You made them after you got done calling me an idiot. I would have helped you out; you didn't have to marry...him."

He saw her visibly deflate even further at his words and wished he could take them back but he needed to know the whole story. The month they had been together had been insane for both of them; a quiet movie night while her father's were away for the weekend had quickly, somehow, turned into him taking her virginity and telling her he'd been in love with her for so long that he didn't even know when it had actually happened. When she had told him she loved him too he knew they would be fine.

"Why'd you break up with me?" she countered his question. "I mean, for real why. Not the BS you told me in high school."

"It wasn't BS," he responded in complete honesty but he also recognized that it was time to discuss this like the adults they were and not the scared teenagers they had been. "You were so proud of me for joining the Marine's both before we got together and then still after that. You loved that I finally had these real plans for my future; but then, you started talking about how after you finished college that you'd love to see other parts of the country for a few years and that Broadway could wait. I wasn't going to let you do that Rachel. And I sure as hell wasn't going to make you wait for me."

"I never got Broadway," she pointed out with a sad smile and a shrug.

"But would you change any of it?" he asked her, knowing the answer and completely accepting that he missed out on the past few years because he knew how much she adored her daughter. And, if he was perfectly honest, he wasn't sure where he'd be himself if things hadn't played out the way they had initially.

"Yes," Rachel replied, shocking the hell out of him. "Hindsight being what it is; I wouldn't have ignored my gut that kept telling me there was a reason I broke up with Finn in Senior Year. I broke up with him for you; then you broke up with me and I sort of understood why. Finn was just supposed to be the rebound, he wasn't supposed to get me pregnant and tell me he had planned on following me to New York all along."

"Gone with your gut?" he questioned, subtly waving off the waiter who was heading their way with menus. They needed to get some of this out of the way before they could once again relax into the state of relaxed comfort that they only had with each other.

"I wanted to tell Finn the baby was yours. I thought about telling him I had cheated on him," she admitted quietly, after considering with question for a moment. "I think I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop with Finn. I knew you'd never leave, or at least you wouldn't leave the way he did. I knew you had your commitments, but that was entirely different," she explained and he felt his heart beating faster in his chest; because, he knew if she had asked, he would have said yes without a second thought. "But I also wasn't sure you wouldn't resent me in the long run. I couldn't do that to you."

"I wouldn't have ever resented you Rachel," he whispered. "I loved you back then. The first thought I had when I saw Elyse's file was that I wished she was mine. I only let you go because I thought Finn could and would be there in a way I wasn't able to. I'm so sorry I was wrong."

"Honestly Noah? I wasn't that shocked when he left us. I keep telling people I was because we were so happy; but, fuck we were miserable. I hated him by the end," she elaborated and shrugged before taking a long swallow from her glass of wine, obviously trying to avoid his eyes.

"You could have called me," he told her, squeezing the hand he still hadn't released in his. "At any point, you could have called me and I would have been there as soon as I could. I would have taken you and Elyse with me Rach. You have to believe me."

"I do," she responded, wiping at her eyes discreetly. "That's part of the reason why I didn't call. By the times things started to get really bad, I had heard from Carole that you were in Afghanistan and you were still there when he left us. I didn't want you distracted. If anything had happened to you, I would have lost what little sanity I had left at the time."

The table seemed stifled with a heavy blanket of tension from the revelations their conversation had brought to light. It lasted a few more seconds before Rachel cleared her throat and forced a smile onto her face before speaking again, "Now, let's order some food. This isn't really restaurant conversation."

Noah nodded silently and waved the waiter over, allowing her words to mull over in his head and trying to ignore the pain of the knowledge that he could have had her for the last fourteen years. He could have raised her daughter as his own. She had wanted him to. More then that, she had wanted what he had wanted back then, only she had wanted it for him.

He almost laughed as he remembered what Santana had told him after he had Rachel had the most amicable break-up in Glee Club history, despite how much it had shocked the hell out of the rest of the club, "You two are so completely fucked in the head. When you finally realize just how completely stupid this decision was you should give me a call, 'cause I'm gonna collect a shit load of money on that bet. You have to know Finn's just going to fuck this up right? Please, tell me you know that."

Apparently, he needed to give his favorite Albany County prosecutor a call; which was the thought that planted the beginnings of an idea in his mind. Though, thinking over Rachel's tone as she had discussed Finn and the past, made him think he'd need to tread very lightly before approaching her with it. But what it really boiled down to was that he worked for the New York State Family Courts and the only person he had kept in touch with from High School worked as a prosecutor in the Northern New York U.S. District Court. And, the bonus to all of this was that last time he checked, she was still quite friendly with the Federal Judge she had clerked for after she graduated from Harvard Law School.

Santana really always did love being right.


A/N: Sorry this took so much longer then I planned. For those of you that don't follow my LJ - my computer crashed on Friday and I only got it back this evening (fully fixed and with all files in tact thank goodness - which is why I'm able to update tonight). Also, sorry this is a littttle bit shorter then last time, but I liked that ending point. *shrug*

This is looking like it might be longer then the 4 parts I anticipated - I can hear you all complaining from over here - as I'm working out the strucuture and plot and it's sort of screaming at me to make it detailed and elaborate. This chapter was more about introducing the relationship Rachel shares with her daughter and letting Rachel and Noah start to break past, well, the past (and giving you a little hint into more of their very short relationship senior year). My muse is telling me things might heat up a little bit in the next chapter - both between our favorite couple and with Noah's good intentioned plan (but, you know what they say about the road to hell). I can say not to worry about "drama" because I'm not the type of author who writes drama/angst for the sake of writing drama/angst. Everything will happen for a reason, not just cause I want to cause issues for these two - I've put them through enough in their pasts in this story. I actually think I'm being pretty nice to them this time.

Out of curosity's sake, 'cause like Rachel I adore a good metaphor, has anyone picked up on the title's lyrics and their likeness to Finn/Rachel & Puck/Rachel in this story? ...I'll just be over in my corner writing then.