Disclaimer: Though I pray every day and night and day, I still don't own glee =(
Authors Note: I'm incredibly lazy I want to say that I'm reading the reviews cuz they legit make my day & I'm glad for the feedback and to know you like the story enough to not just read but share opinions with me. Thanks
Quinn really is more intuitive then she lets on, which is why she knew to call Rachel when Noah hadn't answered his phone. But seems like no one wanted to answer her calls, so after about six trips to voicemail she decides it was time for a nap. She's surprised to find them two hours later at her door with Noah looking like someone put a dent in his truck.
"Are you alright? You called six times…"
"Well first she called you twice so it's actually eight" By the look on his face Rachel's pretty sure that was the wrong thing to say.
Eight. Eight times. Quinn's never called him that many times in a month much less a day. He'd been so consumed with his feelings for Rachel that he'd completely forgotten about all the other things going on in his life. Important things. Things like the mother of his child. God he was such an ass. He doesn't even ask Quinn if it's okay to come in, just makes his way into the living room of her mother's new apartment.
Quinn and Rachel share a look just to make sure they're both on the same page, and they were. Neither of them have any idea what was wrong with Noah. Rachel told her they had rushed over here once Noah had seen all her missed calls, which explains why she was in a sweater clearly too big for her and pyjama pants. She approaches him much in the way one would approach a wounded lion, slowly and cautiously. He knocks the air out of her lungs when he grabs her arms and brings her to him. She can count the amount of times he's held her this way and never in her life had she ever felt this safe.
"Are you alright, Q?" She doesn't know why such a simple question has her tearing up but Rachel's sobbing and Noah's grip only gets tighter the longer she goes without answering. She looks at him, really looks at him and she thinks she sees him, maybe for the first time in her life. She'd seen a glimpse of the person in front of her the first time he held their daughter but even then there was still a little Puck peeking through. The man holding her now was all Noah. A part of her wishes she'd seen him this way sooner, things could have been so different but she hadn't.
Rachel decides to give them time privacy, there's a long overdue conversation that needs to be had between them and she knows how to make herself scarce. A part of her is jealous of how much Noah cares about Quinn and the bond they have but it's a small tiny part that lets her know she's human and she takes pride in the fact that she can recognize and dismiss her insecurities.
"No, I'm not alright but I will be. And so will you… Noah". It didn't feel right to call him Puck anymore, at least not in this moment when he was so much more than a badass with no cause. She tells him everything that's been on her mind, from her parents' divorce to Sophia's adoption to how much she really needed them to be friends now. She acknowledges how wrong she had been to keep him on the outside of the pregnancy and how much easier everything was once she let him in. She hadn't meant to say so much but once she'd started she just couldn't stop, she needed him to know so they could begin to heal together. Quinn didn't know why put she didn't think she could fully heal without him.
While waiting for the kettle Rachel sends a text to Finn, they need to talk about a lot preferably before he shows up at her house again. Things are changing so quickly she can barely keep up but for once in her life she welcomes the change. She's happy truly happy, and things aren't perfect but that doesn't matter. For the first time in a long time Rachel feels secure and in control of the direction her life is going. It's been awhile since she's been comfortable in her own skin, happy with who she is and she realizes now that it's because it's been a long time since she was making decision for herself. She is proud of the person she's becoming and she's going to embrace that and act accordingly.
Noah can't believe what he's hearing, all the nights he'd wished Quinn would just let him in only to be disappointed and here he was getting what he wanted and he's crying. A part of him wants to blame Rachel for how emotional she's let him become but a bigger part wants to thank her for letting him finally admit to being able to feel more than lust. He laughs when she starts to wipe his tears away because she's sobbing and it's adorable. He tells her everything he's been going through, talks to her about Sophia and Rachel and how much he loved them both and admits that he loves Quinn just as much and he does love her, not in a way he ever expected to but in a way that's honest. It's important to him that he`s there for her and he makes sure to drill that into her head until she's overcome with laughter and gasps that sound oddly like "I got it, I got it, I love you too" He ruffles her hair, kisses her forehead than turns on the TV and starts watching the game.
Quinn leaves him to his thoughts and his basketball and ventures into the kitchen, she sees her mom sitting on the top of the stairs with tears in her eyes and offers her a small smile. For so long Quinn had thought that getting pregnant had been the worst thing to ever happen to her but with the conversation she'd just had with Noah and the relationship she was building with her mother she knows she was wrong. Sophia had been the blessing she hadn't known to ask for. She sees Rachel on her phone and for a second she's suspicious but then she backtracks, Rachel is too loyal a person to betray Puck like that. Besides Quinn wasn't going anywhere in Noah's life, and neither was she apparently so it was about time they started to get along. "Hey…"
Rachel looks up and is surprised to see how vulnerable Quinn looks, outside of her cherrio uniform and bow down or die attitude she looks almost human. "Hey, I was making hot chocolate… I thought it might help". Almost as if to prove her point the kettle goes off. She doesn't say anything when Quinn places two cups on the counter next to the hot chocolate and marshmallows she'd managed to find. They sit in silence for a while just sipping and looking up regularly, until Quinn asks Rachel if she wants to talk about it. Rachel's not sure if she means Finn, or Noah or everything but the answer is the same
"Yeah, I do"
