Author's Note: Hey everyone! Thanks for the great response on the last chapter. This chapter is where the drama will start so get ready! Also for those who read the book know that the character of Mrs. Reynolds is a very important to the two main characters relationship. She is the mother of the owner of the diner where Rachel's mom works. Since I've made Sue Sylvester the diner owner, her mother Doris Sylvester will be Mrs. Reynolds. Mrs. Sylvester will be very OC so be prepared.

Disclaimer: I realize that neither Glee nor Leaving Paradise belongs to me. I'm simply borrowing the characters and the plot to create a brand new story.

Rachel

I felt movement next to me and turned sharply, bracing myself for whoever was there with me. I never expected to see the guy I'd been having nightmares about for the past year standing there.

I gasped and took in the sight of none other than Noah Puckerman. He'd gotten taller since the last time I'd seen him, larger too. His shoulders were broader and he looked as though he'd been working out quite a bit. His biceps strained against his slightly too small t-shirt and his dark hazel eyes bore into me with an unreadable expression. He crouched down slightly and I could see he'd shaved his head into a crude-looking Mohawk.

I couldn't breathe. I must have told myself a hundred times that when I finally came face to face with him, I'd have to stay calm. Unfortunately, right at the moment, I was far from calm. My emotions were running rampant through me. Everything hit me at once, anger, anxiety, even fear.

I scrambled from under the tree and tried to stand up. A hot searing pain shot up me as I bore the brunt of my weight on my bad leg. I cried out in pain. I could see him frowning from the corner of my eye. He reached out and touched my elbow to steady me.

Oh. My. God. Memories of being stuck in a hospital bed, unable to move, crash through my mind and I straighten.

I jerked my arm back. "Don't touch me!" I shrieked hysterically. "Get away from me!"

He stepped back and held his hands up. "You don't have to be afraid of me." He said evenly.

I scoffed. I had every right to be afraid of him. He was the guy who put me in a wheelchair for four months. He was the guy made me go through multiple surgeries and horribly painful physical therapy. And worst of all, he was the guy who crushed any hopes I had of performing on Broadway someday.

Noah Puckerman was dead to me.

He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "Come on, Berry, we used to be friends." He reminded me.

I winced. "That was a long time ago!" I spit. "Before you hit me!" I screech. "Besides you said we weren't friends before!" I say my voice full of bitterness.

He looks angry. "It was an accident. I paid my debt to society." He says with a hint of irritation to his voice.

It's a totally surreal moment, and one I don't want to last longer than it has to. While my insides shake from nervousness, I face him and try to speak in the most convincing voice I can muster, "You may have paid your debt to society, but what about your debt to me?"

As soon as the words are out of my mouth I can't believe I've said them. I turn around and limp back home without a backward glance. I close my eyes, put my hands over my ears, and hum.

Even with my eyes and ears closed, the image of Noah is burned into my brain. His dark hazel eyes stare at me and I can still here his dark voice. The night of the accident, the pain I've suffered, my whole life changing, it all races back. It haunts me to no end

I start to hum.

Puck

My life was going to shit. First mom gives me the cold shoulder, then Sarah acts as if she's a completely different person, and now Rachel. When I left my house, the last thing I needed was to come face to face with her. She looked at me as though I'd run over he again given half the chance.

I leaned against the tree trunk of the old oak. I thought back to the past year. Crap food, limited free time, and guys that would break you in half if you so much as looked at them weird. Rachel wasn't the only one who had suffered.

It was an accident, for heaven's sake.

The kid in jail who stabbed the girl who refused to go to the dance with him, that was no accident. Jesse dealing drugs for money, that was no accident. I'm not saying driving drunk isn't a crime–it is. And when I pled guilty to the charges, I was ready to take whatever punishment the judge ordered–without regrets.

I was accused of the crime, I did the time. It's over. There was just one glitch:

Rachel Berry doesn't want to forgive me.

She said I haven't paid my debt to her. Is there any end to this punishment I've put upon myself?

I look down and shake my head. I won't let Rachel, or my family, or anyone make me unfocused. If being stuck in the DOC didn't screw me up, then I'm definitely not going to let anyone in Lima do it. My sister is going to have to figure out why she thinks being a fucking weirdo is better than going back to the way things were before I left. And my mom is going to, somehow, get real and stop acting like she's in some stupid drama movie. She needs to get the hell over herself and start acting like an adult. And Rachel, Rachel's going to have to realize that the accident was just that, an accident.

Maybe I wanted to prove to her that I'm not the evil monster she obviously thinks I am. All I know is, no matter what happens, I'm not leaving Lima. She might as well get used to me.

They all better get used to me.

Rachel

As soon as I get home, it takes every ounce of will power to keep myself from crying. I take a deep breath and muster up the biggest smile I can, before pushing open the front door. My mother immediately pounces.

"Hi, sweetie!" She shrieks in delight. "Did you have a good time?"

I try and fake enthusiasm, "It was awesome, mom. I had a great time."

Her eyes are shinning and she looks like the happiest person in the room. I bite my lip hard. I can't cry, not now, not in front her.

"I'm so glad!" She exclaims. "I'm so proud of you."

My resolve to keep the tears at bay is crumbling. "Thanks, mom, I'm just going to go to bed now."

"Oh, ok." She looks a bit confused. "Sleep tight."

I smile at her before making my way up the stairs. I stop midway. There's still one thing I have to ask her. "Oh, mom, before I forget. Did you happen to get that packet from the Student Exchange Program?" I ask hopefully.

She frowns. "No, I don't think so." She sees the obvious displeasure on my face. "But I'm sure it will come soon!" She tries to placate me.

I nod once before limping the rest of the way upstairs. "Night, mom."

I see her frown from the corner of my eye and I'm wracked with guilt. I know she's only trying to help, but everything's been blowing up in my face recently. First my mom gets me invited to that stupid party then I come face to face with Noah Puckerman for the first time in a year.

It's just too much. I throw myself on my bed, turn on some music, and try to drown out the memories of the past year.

Unfortunately, it's not working.

Puck

Going back to school wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Before I went to jail, I basically ruled the halls of William McKinley High School with an iron fist. Guys were afraid of me and girls wanted me. I had a smoking hot girlfriend and a group of friends who worshiped the ground I walked on. I even made Glee club look cool, sort of. It's not like popular kids were lining up to join but I was still on top. Fuck, I could wear a dress to school and people would still think I was cool.

My first day back, they forced me to take all my final exams from last year. If I passed them all, I'd be allowed to start my junior year with my friends. The exams weren't all that difficult. Looking back I hardly ever went to class but I wasn't a dumb kid. Plus, I once fucked the valedictorian a couple times in exchange for private tutoring. Personally, I thought it was a win-win.

After I'd received word that I'd passed my classes, I decided it was time for me to rebuild my rep again. I started hanging out with the football guys again and tried to pretend like all of last year had never happened. It worked for a while, and things started to get back to normal.

It was during lunch time that it happened. Mike was trying, without much luck I might add, to convince us that our glee numbers needed more pop-and-lock.

"Dude, I'm telling you," He waved his arms around enthusiastically. "It would look so cool!"

Matt shook his head sadly and I threw my empty chip bag at his head, "We'd look like a bunch of fucking robots." I told him bluntly.

This only seemed to set him off more. "What's wrong with robots? Robots are cool, man!"

Matt and I exchanged a glance, "Whatever, dude, anyways it doesn't matter. Finn over here would never be able to figure how to do it anyway."

"Shut up, man." I heard my best friend mumble next to me.

I rolled my eyes and looked around the rest of the cafeteria. I froze when I saw none other than my ex-girlfriend Quinn and her drones Santana and Brittany following behind.

"We'll hello there ladies." Mike winked at them as they made their way towards our table. Brittany giggled, Santana rolled her eyes but cracked a smile, and Quinn, Quinn wasn't paying attention at all, she was too busy staring at me.

"Hey, Puck," She said flirtatiously, taking a step towards me and leaning against the table. "Long time no see."

I gave her a slight nod and stared straight back. She didn't seem much different than the last time I saw her, her blonde hair was pulled back off her face and her cheerios skirt swayed back and forth with every step she took. We held each other's gaze for what seemed like forever.

"So ladies," Mike broke us out of out trance. "Care to show us what's in store for this year's football games?"

Quinn exchanged glances with Santana and Brittany. "Sure Chang," Santana smirked. "Just don't ask us if we can add pop-and-lock."

Mike's face fell for a second before it brightened again when the girls started their cheer. Obviously, the guys were more interested in the cheerios than the actual cheer especially since the uniforms left little to the imagination.

When they finished the guys clapped and cheered, especially Karofsky who gave a Quinn a once over followed by a sly little wink.

"Knock it off, Karofsky." I yell at him from across the table.

He holds up his hands and smiles. "What? I was just admiring the cheer. "

"Please,"Quinn said as she sat down next to Finn and gave Karofsky a disgusted look. "You were admiring something, all right. Our chests."

"That, too," Karofsky admitted. "I'm a teenage guy with raging hormones, what do you expect? I bet Puck admired them, too, because he hasn't seen any in almost a year. Isn't that right?"

Frankly, I should have seen it coming. I really should have known it was just a matter of time before my stint in jail got thrown in my face. I looked around the table and saw that everyone was staring at me now, including Quinn. I get up from my seat and walk out of the cafeteria. I don't want to deal with this crap right now.

"I was just kidding, Puck. It was just a joke! Come back here!" I hear Karofsky call out, but I keep walking

Back at the DOC we had rage-intervention classes once a week. Since most of us got our sorry asses put in jail because of violence, they stressed that we needed to release anger in other, non-violent ways. Since punching Karofsky in his fat-ass mouth isn't an option, I head to the school workout room.

By the time lunch period is over my knuckles are busted and there's blood splattered all over the punching bag I'd been hitting.

"You done, now?" A voice asks me from behind.

I turn around so fast, it feels like whiplash. I narrow my eyes as I look into the eyes of none other than Shannon Beiste.

Coach Beiste has been my transition coach ever since I was thrown into the system. As a transition coach, her job is to help me get back into my old life and stay out of trouble. Coincidentally, she's also McKinley High's football coach. Don't be mistaken though. Even though she's a woman she could probably take down the biggest linebacker in seconds, no sweat.

On top of that Coach is the prime example of a bad kid who got her life back on track. She's been through the system herself but thankfully she got her life straightened out and is now out there helping other delinquents, like me.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, wiping my knuckles on a towel. "We don't have practice today."

"Your mother called me." She replied. I raised an eyebrow at the fact that my mother actually gave a crap about me, but she continued. "She wanted me to make sure you didn't get your ass back to jail less than a week after you got out."

"Oh right," I said sarcastically, "Because, I've just been itching to go back to that hellhole."

"Can it Puckerman." She snaps. "Come on were going for a walk."

I roll my eyes, "Sorry, but I got class." I wasn't actually planning on going back but maybe I could chill in the nurse's office for the rest of the day. Anything was better than having to talk about my feelings with my transition coach.

She smirked. "Don't worry about it. Figgins was more than willing to let me take you out of class for a few hours. Let's get going."

About 15 minutes later, we'd reached Lima Park. We walked around in silence for a few minutes before Coach started to speak.

"So tell me about everything that's happened since you've come home." She says.

I keep my mouth shut for a few seconds before my mouth betrays me and starts to talk for me. "Well let's see. My mother hates me. She's more worried about what other people think of her than her own son. And then there's my sister who's turned into a fucking weirdo." I try to stop, but it's like my mouth has a mind of its own. "All my friends want to hear about every single fucking detail about the DOC, but they don't know, they have no idea how horrible it is."

Coach Beiste took a long pause. "No one said it was going to be easy."

"Yeah?" I snapped at her. "No one said it was going to be this fucking hard."

We stopped walking and Coach turned to face me. "Does it make you feel like a big guy to cuss in every sentence that comes out of your mouth?"

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, lay off."

"It's my job to stay on you, Puck. But I can't help if you won't share with me." She prods.

I scoff and look up towards the sky. "I don't need your help. My mom and sister, they need more help than me. Why don't you treat them like your guinea pig?"

"You've been away for almost a year, Puck. Give them a break. You act as though they should be apologizing to you instead of the other way around. What did they do wrong, huh? Maybe you should blame yourself once in a while, Puck. The experience might be eye opening."

"Yeah, well the truth might be eye opening." I mumble.

"What was that?" She asks.

"Nothing," I grumble. "Forget it."

We continue walking and I stare straight ahead. I can feel her eyes on me, burning with all kinds of questions. I can't afford to look at her right now or I might go crazy, like legit fucking snap.

"Anyway," She stops looking and me and flips through some papers in the folder she's carrying. "Based on the survey you filled out to help us match you up with the right community service, you'll be reporting to Burt Hummel's Hardware Store bright and early next week."

I groaned. Burt's son Kurt and I went to school together. We didn't have the best relationship. Actually, it was pretty much non-existent, seeing as though I used to throw Kurt in the school dumpster every morning.

"You'll be going door to door," She continued. "They'll give you an address along with supplies and you'll do fix whatever needs to be fixed, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," I mocked saluted her.

She rolled her eyes but kept talking, "One last question." She said. "Have you had any physical contact?"

I gave her a confused expression. "What? You mean, like, as in sex?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. You tell me."

I paused for a few seconds before answering her. "Um, my sister hugged me and a few of my mom's friends gave me a pat on the back."

"Did you initiate it?" She pressed.

"No. You're creeping me out, dude."

"Puck, I'm only trying to help you. Some people have attachment problems when they've been away for a long time. It's in your best interest to–"

"I touched a girl." I blurted out before I could stop myself.

"Go on." She prodded.

My thoughts went back to the day when I saw Rachel Berry for the first time. I remember the expression on her face when she tried to stand up on her leg followed by the look of complete terror.

"A girl needed help getting up so I reached out to steady her." I said carefully.

"Did she thank you or even say anything to you?"

I scoffed and let out a bitter laugh. "She freaked out and ripped her arm out of my grasp."

"Were you being rough?" She continued.

"Trust me, I wasn't." I said harshly.

"Who was she, Puck?"

She was staring intently at me, waiting for a response. I finally opened my mouth, "She was the girl who I went to jail for maiming."

Rachel

I'd gone to the library after school, researching and reading all about Broadway and New York. When I came home I crossed my fingers hoping the packet would be in the mail today.

I opened the mailbox to see that there wasn't a packet but a letter from the program instead. I was too excited to think about anything except for the fact that I finally received my ticket out of this two-bit town, not to mention my escape from Noah Puckerman. I ripped open the letter and read.

To: Miss Rachel Berry

From: The National Performing Arts Program (NPAP)

Dear Miss Berry,

It has come to the attention of the NPAP committee that the scholarship you applied for was a dance scholarship. Since your records indicate that you have not been active on your high school's dance team for the past twelve months, I'm sorry to inform you that your scholarship has been revoked. We are under legal limitations to distribute the scholarship to students who are currently active in their high schools. You are still welcome to join the NPAP if you can arrange your own transportation and pay tuition costs. The cost of tuition for one semester in New York is $4,625. Please remit payment within the end of the month. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

April Rhodes

President of the NPAP

My heart sunk as I read the letter over and over. I bite my lip in an attempt to keep the tears at bay, but it's no use. I swipe angerly at the tears as they run down my cheeks.

When my mom gets home I show her the letter. "It's ok," She sounds panicked. "I'll just work double shifts at the diner, and then on Thanksgiving, and if I throw in my Christmas bonus–"

"Mom, please." I cut her off, We both know we don't have that kind of money. "Just stop."

We both stare sadly at the letter on the kitchen table for a few minutes before the phone rings. It's my mom's boss Sue Sylvester telling her she forgot her paycheck at work."

"I'll be right over." She tells her impatient boss. "Rachel, honey, come with me."

I don't want to, but if I say no to my mom she'll only feel worse. We get to the diner and find out it's packed with a bunch of middle-aged men waiting to be seated. Apparently there was some kind of bowling tournament and their bus stopped by the diner for food.

"Finally," And agitated voice, belonging to non-other than Sue Sylvester, calls out. "I need you to help with the shift tonight. Yolanda went home sick a while ago and I don't know how much longer I can take it. Some of these guys smell worse than a homeless guy who's been sitting in three days worth of garbage."

My mom exchanges a glace with me and motions towards her slightly insane boss. "Oh shoot, Rachel, do you mind?"

I shake my head. "Go ahead; I'll just wait till you're done." I say as I slip into a booth.

I can hear Sue screaming at a few rowdy customers, "You think your life is hard. I'm living with hepatitis, that's hard!"

I smirk and shake my head. I watch Sue as she walks over towards the door to embrace and older woman, who walked through the door. The woman catches me staring and waves. I look away quickly and pretend like I wasn't staring, but the woman walks up to my booth.

Sue follows behind her and looks from me to the woman, "Broadway, this is my mother, Doris, Doris Sylvester." She introduces me with the affectionate little nickname she uses often. "Mom, this is Broadway, aka Rachel. She's Shelby's daughter."

Doris shakes my hand and smiles brightly, "Nice to meet you, Rachel. Mind if I sit here?"

I shake my head and gesture for her to sit. Sue stands over the booth with a confused expression. "Mom, where's Mary?" She asks.

"Oh I fired her yesterday." Doris says nonchalantly. "She was such a you-know-what."

"Mom," Sue reprimands. "You can't just fire every single person I hire to help you out."

"Oh don't worry about me, Susie, I don't need any help." She says.

"You have a heart condition, mom." Sue replies.

She waves her hand dismissively, "Oh shush, Sue, and go get your poor mother something to eat."

Sue walks away to grab something from the kitchen and Doris gives me a quick once over. "I had no idea Shelby had a daughter. How old are you, Rachel?"

"Sixteen." I tell her.

"She just started her junior year of high school." Sue says as she returns with a plate of food. "And she's going to New York next semester for a performing arts program."

I wince when Ms. Sylvester mentions the New York program. Doris seams to notice it and waits for Sue to leave again. "So Rachel, why do you want to leave Ohio so badly?"

I poke at the food on my plate. "I just do." I answer stubbornly.

"Well, then, if you don't want to talk about it just say so." She says. "I'm sure you have your reasons."

"They revoked my scholarship." I blurt out before I can stop myself.

I expect to see a look of pity on her face but it's not there. Instead she looks almost angry. "Well, why would they go and do a thing like that?"

"I applied for a dance scholarship but I'm not on the team anymore so they revoked my scholarship." I tell her.

She nods her head, lets out a long breath, then leans back in the booth. "I see. Well, who knows, maybe one day your luck will change."

I can only pray that she's right.