He wanted to be the one to pick her up from the airport, but in the end her fathers had put their foot (feet?) down and said they would pick her up. Something about spending time with their baby. Puck snorted. Sounded like they were missing her as bad as he was.

She sent him a text when he plane landed, another when her dads found her and another a little later telling him her dads were insisting on taking her to a nice dinner, and she was sure it was to punish him. He could almost hear her laughing at him.

Dinner seemed to take them an exceedingly long time. When she did finally text him that they were home, he raced out of his house so fast he doubted his feet even touched the ground.

She was standing in the driveway when he got there, grinning from ear to ear. "How many traffic laws did you break to get here?"

"Shut up," he said, pulling her into a hug. He pulled back slightly, brushing his lips against hers as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He rested his forehead against hers. "Hi," he whispered.

"Hi," she whispered back.

He thinks it might be the quietest he's ever heard her and he starts chuckling.

She pulled back and glared at him. "And just what exactly is so funny?"

He grinned arrogantly and looped his arm around her shoulders. "Nothing, Berry. Just glad you're home."

"Mm hmm," she mumbled, not quite sure she believed him.

They headed up to her room and he watched as she started to unpack. "So how was your trip?"

Even though he's heard about it every day for the past four weeks he still listens as she rambles on about the new songs she's learned, the notes she's strengthened, the connections she's made. The time away from him seems to have worn on her and she is just as loud and rambunctious as ever, barely pausing to take a breath between sentences. He just reclines on her bed and lets her go to town.

As she talked about the various instructors, he took in the bright sparkle in her eye, the way her smile seemed to explode and-damn it! Quinn was right, he was in love with Rachel Berry.

Like he told Quinn, he really wasn't sure when it happened, hadn't even put a word to it until that conversation. Damn her, she sure knew how to mess up a guy's life. Because now he had to deal with it. He knew what he felt now, but he didn't know about Rachel. Sure, they were friends, they hung out all the time, but you could buy a puppy and do that too. Did she feel the same way? Did she even know he felt that way?

Then again, the two times he had kissed her, brief as they were, she hadn't really resisted and hadn't seemed all that surprised either. He thinks she may have kissed him back today, but now he's not sure. Damn Quinn, walking around, trying to make everyone as girly and all about feelings like Finn. Damn them both.

There was still that whole matter to resolve. With Finn. And Quinn. And now Rachel. Because, close as they had been the last few months, she was still Rachel Berry. Still had her own ethical rules for life. And he doubted that she was going to like any of this very much. Nope, he could pretty much guarantee this was going to get pretty messy.

He flinched when something hit the side of his head and when he reached down to pick it up, he discovered it was a sock. A knee sock. He glanced up at Rachel to find her with her hands on her hips, mock glaring at him.

"Are you even listening to me? You asked me about my trip and I was telling you. I don't just talk for my health, you know."

Puck snorted. "Berry, the day someone figures out why you talk so much will be the day Nobel Prizes are handed out."

She cocked her head to the side. "Was that an insult? I think that was an insult, but it didn't make a whole lot of sense. You should probably work on that." She ducked as the knee sock came flying at her head.

She had kicked him out shortly after that, claiming jet lag, and he was so caught up in trying to figure things out that he let her. The old Puck, he knew, would have pushed things, would have kissed her to see what she did. But the new Puck, this pathetic wussy Puck, was almost afraid to see what she would do. They were in a good place right now, comfortable and friendly, natural. He didn't want to do anything to ruin that.

At the same time, he thought, lying in his bed later that night, he knew he had to tell her about Quinn's baby. His baby. It needed to come out and she needed to know and the longer he waited the worse it was going to be. She hated secrets, he knew that, it was part of her insecurity thing, assuming that every secret being kept was about her or it was being kept from her and there could never be a good reason for any of that. Secrets were bad, she was always telling him. He didn't even know how to start that conversation. "Hey, I knocked up my best friend's girl" didn't seem like a good way to start. Maybe "Hey, you like babies right? Well, I'm having one!" Yeah, maybe not that one either.

And then there was Finn to consider. They had never really talked about it, not since that day they broke up on the bleachers, but she'd had a thing for Finn. Maybe she still did. Just because she wasn't following him around like a puppy dog anymore didn't mean she didn't want to. And if he told her about Quinn and the baby there was a pretty good chance she would tell Finn herself. That little place in Puck's chest ached when he thought about that, her choosing to support Finn over him, even after all these months. But he wouldn't blame her for it, not really. He had screwed up then and he was still screwing up by keeping his mouth shut about it every day.

He really hated that he had to sit back and let someone else take care of his kid, watch someone else walk around claiming a kid they didn't really have any claim to at all. And the part of him that was still Finn's friend, even after all of this, hated watching his best friend shoulder a responsibility that had nothing to do with him. It wasn't fair, not to any of them, even though he knew Finn was getting the short end of the stick all the way around. Crappy girlfriend, crappy best friend, and the hurt that losing a kid he thought was his would leave him with.

And Baby Drizzle-Drizzle, what a stupid name, and of course Finn would come up with it and think it was the next cool one. And even though he knew Quinn would never ever let anyone name her baby something off the wall like Drizzle, the name had stuck and the bump was referred to, even affectionately sometimes, as Drizzle.

Some serious decisions had to be made, that was for sure. He hadn't thought much about the family Quinn had found to adopt their daughter since she told him about it. His thoughts were more on Rachel, spending time with her again. It was just easier. Things with her were simple, there was no drama or complication. And he couldn't even claim Drizzle as his, it was just easier to forget about it for awhile and just exist with Rachel.

He didn't like the feelings he got when he thought about an adoption. It was different letting Finn claim his kid, at least he knew he would see her, be able to be around her. As long as Finn and Quinn raised her he knew that Quinn would try to include him when she could, even if not as the father. But if the baby was adopted…that was it. He would never see her again, not at birthdays, not just randomly dropping in under the pretense of visiting his friends. He'd never see his daughter again if Quinn gave her up.

But he knew that was unfair. It was unfair of him to expect Quinn to keep her just so he could see her sometimes. Because for Quinn it would be forever. Day in and day out with a kid, never able to get away and find the peace he found with Rachel and the escape of a simpler existence.

But even that wasn't going to last long. He was pretty sure Rachel was going to be upset about the whole thing when it came out, upset at all of them. Well, probably not Finn, just because he was ignorant and had dozed off during sex ed didn't make him the villain here. Puck knew he had changed in the last few months, and Rachel knew it too, but Puck feared some things just weren't forgivable, some things you just couldn't recover from, no matter how long ago you may have done them. Because the fact is, even though he has changed, he's still kept his mouth shut and kept up the pretense of the lie, watching his best friend stress himself and his family out over something he shouldn't even be worrying about and that hasn't changed. He may have kept his mouth shut for Quinn, because it's what she wanted, but he knew it was wrong and he did it anyway. He was definitely not looking forward to that conversation, with either Rachel or Finn.

When he talked to Quinn about it she was hesitant, but agreed that they should probably tell Finn soon. Puck wanted to tell Rachel, but he knew Finn had a right to know first, he was the one getting screwed the most here, but as soon as he knew Puck had decided to tell Rachel.

The conversation with Finn was ugly. They were at Quinn's house, her parents had left for the afternoon and they all sat on the front porch. Quinn had said she wanted to tell him but as soon as they all got settled in she got really quiet, like she didn't quite know how to start.

So Puck had told him. Had just come right out with it. Apologized, took the punch Finn threw, listened to him yell and Quinn cry. Because, as horrible as it sounded, he wanted to do anything to make this go faster so he could go tell Rachel. That was the confrontation he was worried about it. He knew Quinn and Finn would be fine. Finn would be mad at her for awhile, but he would forgive her. They were in love and he couldn't imagine Finn Hudson ever being with anyone that wasn't Quinn Fabray.

He didn't really know where he and Finn would end up. He hoped that Finn would forgive him as well, Finn was just that kind of guy, but he wouldn't hold it against him if he didn't. Puck knew he didn't deserve it, he had screwed Finn over in the worst way and that was the worst thing. They were best friends since they were kids. They knew everything about each other, the good and the bad. And now this. And this was pretty bad.

Finn yelled for awhile, kept yelling as more things came to him, as he remembered the stress of the last few months, working, trying to plan for the future. And he didn't even have to. He barely batted an eye when Quinn pulled out all the money he'd given her and handed it back over, you could tell from the look on his face that he wasn't really listening to her as he took it all in.

After awhile Finn sat down on the swing and was just silent. Quinn looked at Puck again before reaching a hand out to touch Finn's shoulder. He jerked away before she even touched him and she cringed. Puck watched his friend's face crumble as Quinn told him about the family she'd met, about how great they were and what an amazing life their daug-that Drizzle would have. He watched the disbelief in his friend's eyes when Quinn told him that Puck was going to be present for the delivery and that Puck was going to meet the family and that he was more than welcome to take part in all these things also. He watched as Finn's fist connected with his face again.

Puck wasn't aware that Finn knew how to hit so hard. Didn't realize that he had blacked out until he opened his eyes and saw that Finn was gone and only Quinn remained on the porch, gazing silently into the distance.

Puck groaned. His head hurt, really hurt. Finn must have found some time to keep up his weight training over the summer, cause damn.

"He left." Quinn's voice was subdued and Puck got up slowly to join her on the swing. "He said he really didn't feel like talking to either one of us anymore. Told me to stay away from him and thanked me for ruining both of your lives."

He expected to find tears when he looked over at her, but there weren't. Just miserable eyes that were full of grudging acceptance. "He'll come around."

Quinn glanced at him. "Would you?"

Puck shrugged. "I don't know. He loves you, Quinn. A lot. He'll forgive you eventually, even if he never speaks to me again."

Quinn shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. It's really up to him now."

"He'll come around," Puck repeated.

"Are you going to tell Rachel?"

"Yeah. Soon. I hate carrying this whole thing around, I'm ready for it to be in the open. Just deal with it, you know?"

"Yeah. I do. I should have listened to you from the beginning. It would have sucked but at least it wouldn't have come to this."

"I think it would have come to this no matter what, Quinn. Finn's a good guy and he loves you, it's just going to take some time."

"What about Rachel? What do you think she'll say?"

Puck sighed. "I'm not sure. I'm really not. I mean, part of me doesn't know why I'm worrying so much, she's not my girlfriend or anything, we weren't dating back then. But I do. Worry."

"If she loves you as much as you say Finn loves me…she'll come around."

Puck shrugged. "Maybe."

Quinn nudged his shoulder with hers. "Well, why don't you go tell her and find out?"

Puck stopped by the Berry house, but her dads said she wasn't home. He called her cell phone but she didn't answer. Sent her a text telling her to call him, that he needed to talk to her. He waited an hour before getting restless. She hadn't called, hadn't texted back, and when he called her house her dads said she still hadn't been home yet. He was driving around town in his truck looking for her car when he saw her. She was sitting alone on the swings of the old playground and his gut instantly clenched. He had a bad feeling about this.

He approached her but she didn't acknowledge him. He took the swing next to hers, but she still didn't look at him.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before he couldn't stand it anymore. "There's something I need to tell you," he said quietly.

"Yeah, I imagine there is." He blinked, unsure where the bitterness in her voice came from.

"Rach?"

"I talked to Finn."

Puck swore in his head. He should have known Finn would find Rachel and tell her.

"It's true?"

Puck ran his hand through his mohawk. "Yeah. It's true."

"And you've known all along?" The bitter tone was gone now, her calm carefully constructed and seeping through her words.

"Yeah."

"Ok."

"…ok?"

"What do you expect me to say? What am I supposed to say?"

"I don't know, I thought you'd be mad."

"I am mad. You lied to everyone, you let Finn walk around thinking he was going to be a father, panicking, working himself to death all summer to prepare for a baby that wasn't even his!"

"I know."

"Good."

"Are you ok?"

She looked at him with a blank face, which, on Rachel Berry, Queen of the Facial Expression, was an odd sight. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He hesitated. "I don't know, I just thought you'd be more…mad."

She turned away from him again, facing out into the night. "I hate secrets. I hate the lying and the deception and just...everything. I thought you were different, I thought you had changed."

He reached for her hand, disappointed when she pulled it away. "Rach, I am."

"No. You're not. Because if you were, you wouldn't have kept this to yourself. I feel like I don't even know you, like the last few months with you have been a complete lie. The Noah I know would never do this. But you did and you just let it go on and that means that the Noah I thought I knew isn't really the Noah you are."

"That's not true. It just got so out of control and it was just easier not to-"

"Not to what, tell the truth!" she snapped. "Well, how convenient for you. To be able to walk away and have a life while other people were taking care of your problems. We should all be so lucky."

"Rachel, I know that you're angry. You have a right to be. Just tell me how to make this better."

She stared at him with a look that was so not Rachel, all cold and unfeeling. "Just leave me alone, Puck. Just leave me alone."