Three days after Easter, Puck pulled Rachel out of her afternoon modern class to tell her that he had to head back to Lima. His mom, who had actually been doing pretty well the past couple weeks, had fainted when she had tried to work a half-day shift in the office at the hospital. Becca was away with a friend's family in Chicago for Spring Break, and the doctors had insisted that she couldn't be alone. Rachel had taken one look at the stricken look on his face and understood immediately what he was asking. He hadn't shown up just for the courtesy of telling her that he was leaving town; that could have been covered with a text message or voicemail with a promise to call later to explain. No, he had come to tell her himself because he needed her to go with him.

"Just let me get my things," she told him softly, reluctantly letting go of his wrist to go back into the studio. She could see him watching her through the observation window as she talked to her professor. The kind man knew of her situation and told her that it was fine, that he'd let her make it up with a double session the following week. Slinging her duffel bag over her shoulder, she briefly wondered if she could fly dressed in her leotard and baggy sweatpants. Another look at Noah's face told her that she could.

"Do you want coffee or a muffin or something?" he asked nervously once they were sitting at the gate. Rachel reached over and touched his knee briefly to stop the incessant bouncing that was starting to unnerve her. "Maybe I don't need anymore caffeine."

She smiled at him in amusement and kissed his cheek. "Let me go get us some water and one of those really good oatmeal cookies that they have at that stand over there," she suggested. "I think I can break my vegan ways this one time. Those cookies are pretty incredible from what I remember."

The grin on his face made Noah look as though he'd just won a billion dollars, and all she had to do was agree to eat a tiny bit of non-vegan food. She knew that it wasn't about that but what about she was willing to do for him. As she watched him while she waited in the queue, Rachel knew that there was little she wouldn't do for Noah Puckerman. Sure, she had always cared about him, and in the past several months, it had admittedly blossomed into all-encompassing love. However, as she admired him talking so freely to a little old lady next to him, she knew that it was different than anything she had ever felt before.

She would literally give anything to keep him safe and happy and unafraid. Even with Finn, she had still always been the most important person to her. She had loved him so completely, but her dreams had still mattered more. With Noah, she felt a responsibility to make sure he was okay, one that she didn't at all mind. Broadway and her fathers were no longer the most important things to her, the loves of her life. Not even close, that place belonged solely to Noah Puckerman.

"Here, I snagged us each one," she said as she handed over the paper sleeve with the hot cookie in it. She also slipped him the cold bottle of water. "I was just thinking, we need to talk about what we want to do next year. The end of our sophomore year is coming up and I'm guessing that Sam and Britt will want to find their own place."

He slung his arm across the back of her seat. "I know we need to talk about it and we will. I have a feeling we're going to have a lot of time to talk while we're in Ohio," he replied. "In the mean time, can we just sit here and pretend that nothing is going to change for a little while? I just want to enjoy being with you and act like there isn't anything else in the world that is wrong or matters."

The flight to Ohio was relatively uneventful, and Rachel was happy to see her fathers waiting when they landed. They had agreed to pick them up once she'd sent a quick text message at the airport explaining what was going on. They spent the brief drive to Lima talking about the flight and catching them up on school and filling them in on Sam, Brittany and Blaine. When they finally pulled up in front of the Puckerman household, she sent Noah in on his own so that she could tell them goodbye in private.

"I'm sorry that I'm not staying with you guys this time," she apologized, hugging her daddy through the open window. "I just think they could both use the extra help around here."

"It's no problem, Star," her dad promised as he reached over to answer. "I just want you to know that we are very proud of you for what you are doing for Noah and his family. It is very selfless of you to put him first when you both have such busy lives in New York. I am not sure that Rachel a few years ago would have done that."

She blushed as she looked up at her fathers. "I probably wouldn't have," she admitted. "But Noah has changed me, and I'd like to think that I have changed him. I still have the same dreams, they just include him now. I don't want to do it without him there, and if that means we have to do this part right now, I am going to be by his side every step of the way as long as he'll let me."

Rachel bid them a final farewell before heading into the house. She came into the living room without bothering to knock, only to find Noah holding his mother in the middle of the room. They were both silent, their heads tucked together. "Ma, I think it's time that we figure out if you want to keep doing this," she barely heard him say. They both looked up at each other and smiled the saddest smile Rachel had ever seen. "We have a few options once we find out these test results. If things aren't progressing like the oncologist wanted, I want you to know that Becca and I will support whatever you choose. Even if that means stopping treatment, we understand, I promise."

"I can't leave you yet," his mother said through tears. "It's not time. I'm not ready."

"Okay," he said warmly, hugging her again. "Okay."

"Hello!" Rachel announced cheerfully, sensing a need to break the sad mood in the room. She came over and hugged his mother tightly before slipping to his side. He slid his arm around her waist and squeezed her tiny frame against his. "What can I do to help out?"

"I actually need to get my medications from the pharmacy," she replied. "Noah can run to do that and pick up some lunch in the truck if you don't mind keeping me company. It will give us some time to catch up."

Rachel beamed at her and then up at her boyfriend. "That sounds wonderful," she declared, knowing how much he hated when the two of them teamed up against him. "Noah, can you also get me some hot tea? I have a little bit of a sore throat from the flight and need to make sure that I am still taking care of my voice."

"Fine, Rach," he said before kissing the top of her head. He leaned over and bussed his mom's cheek. "Alright, girls, play nice and remember the rule. No baby pictures, Ma."

Once she could hear the familiar roar of his truck backing out of the driveway, Rachel led his mother into the living room to sit down on the couch. She offered to get her something warm to drink or a blanket if she was cold, but his mother only ordered her to relax a little. "I want you to feel at home too, Rachel," she told her. "And there's a reason I asked you to stay behind. I need to say some thing to you."

"Okay..."

"Noah knows how bad this is, so I assume that you do as well. So I'm just going to drop the pretenses and acknowledge that I might not make it through this. I know we have talked about this before, but I need to tell you some other things," she said to the younger woman. "My son is a strong, proud man, and I see the ways that this and you have changed him this year. In some ways, I suppose that's good, but there are things that I know he's keeping inside. Neither you nor I can change that; however, if something happens to me, I need you to be prepared. Because it will come out eventually in one messy rush and I know you think you know now, but trust me when I say, you don't."

"I'm here whenever he needs me."

"That's good because I'm asking you to take care of my family if something happens to me. Not just Noah either but Becca and Finn too. Those three kids, biological or not, are what matter to me in this world. It's going to be hard on all three of them and they're not going to know what to do. I am going to depend on you to be strong for them, to make sure that Noah doesn't shut down and that Becca doesn't act out and that Finn doesn't try to do whatever it is he does when he thinks he's helping."

"Mrs. Puckerman, I would do anything for Noah, for this family. My future, it's with him."

"I know it's a lot to ask a young woman like you, Rachel, and trust me, I wish that I didn't have to. I wish more than anything I didn't have to think about it," she stopped suddenly, her voice thick with tears. "I don't want to imagine not seeing Noah's first big concert or see Becca get married, but knowing you will be there...I need you to take my place, Rachel. I know that you can't really, but be there for them. They're the only reason I'm still fighting."

Tears streamed down Rachel's face. "I promise," she whispered. "God, I promise."

After Puck showed back up and his mother decided to lay down for a nap, Rachel told Puck that she was going to go out for a run to clear her head. She knew that he needed to do some thing around the house anyhow, so she didn't feel bad about taking the time to herself. She wasn't sure where she was headed when she left, but her internal compass took her to Burt's shop. It was like she knew that he was going to be there and that he would somehow understand.

"Well, if it isn't the prettiest thing to ever grace my shop," Burt announced as she came through the door. Rachel smoothed her ponytail and hugged the man she had come to thing of as a surrogate father figure in her life. "Finn's in the back. You back in town with Puck to see his Ma?" Rachel nodded politely. "Tell them we're thinking of them and that we'll be over to visit soon."

Rachel promised before slipping back to the back bay where Finn was bent over an old Buick. She admired him for a moment, remembering all the times she had stood in nearly this very same place to watch him doing this. It felt like a lifetime ago and she was almost to the point where she couldn't remember what it was like to be in love with him. Time had changed so much, and she wouldn't take any of it back.

"Hey, Finn," she said as she came around to face him. He grinned up at her. "I was out for a run and thought I'd stop by."

"You guys in town to see Puck's ma?" he asked. "I heard she had an incident."

"Yes, she's not doing the best, so we thought we would come home to visit while Becca is in Chicago with her friends," she said. "I also wanted to come by to talk to you as well since we haven't really had a chance to talk about what happened in New York."

Finn straightened up and wiped his brow with a shop rag. "Shit, I'm sorry about that, Rach," he apologized. "I wasn't thinking and it was stupid."

"I just need you to understand that it's over, Finn, for good. There will be no other chances for us," she explained carefully. "What we had was amazing, and I can't imagine what my life would have been like if we hadn't happened. But we ended for a reason, and I think you still remember why. Tina is an amazing woman, Finn, she could be so good for you."

He smiled goofily at the mention of the pretty Asian girl. "I know, Rach," he promised. "She forgave me against her better judgement. I just hope you guys can too."

"Already done," she promised before hugging him impulsively. Although they had closure some time ago, this time it finally felt over. "I should get back..."

"I'll stop by while you're home to talk to Puck and to see Ma," he promised. "Take care of them, Rach. They're lucky to have you."

Rachel smiled to herself as she ran back to his house slowly, her headphones pumping music that somehow just seemed to fit. "Hang on, just hang on for a minute, I've got something to say. I'm not asking you to move on or forget it, but these are better days," the song said. "To be wrong all along and admit is not amazing grace, but to be loved like a song you remember even when you've changed."

That night, after dinner, the three of them watched a movie. His mother eventually excused herself to go to bed, and Puck took her out to the front yard to lay in the bed of his truck and stare up at the April stars. It was cold still but she felt warm pressed close to him. It was the most intimate they had ever been, which seemed crazy considering their healthy sex life.

"I was thinking about the future."

"Yeah?" Rachel asked sleepily. She turned slightly on her side to look at him in the darkness of the night. "And?"

"We should live together next year, just the two of us," he said. "I want to stay in New York if I can. I wasn't sure with my mom, but I don't know, I need to be there still. As long as things work out okay, do you want to try that with me?"

"I want to be wherever you are," she promised.

"Even if it's you and me and Becca in a tiny apartment?"

"Your family is my family, and if she needs to be in New York with us, we are going to have an amazing time," Rachel promised. If she needed to be a maternal figure, she would do it. She had meant it. She would do anything for these people. "I love you, Noah. You're not going to scare me off."

Rachel had one more trip to make the next morning. While Noah went with his mother to chemo, she met up with her fathers for brunch. She didn't wait too long before jumping right into the meat of the conversation. She had been thinking about it all night, ever since he had mentioned Becca living in New York with them.

"If Noah's mother is going to...if it comes down to the possibility of her not being here, I am going to ask Noah to marry me," she announced to them. She didn't ask for their blessing or their permission as she made the assertment. She needed them to understand that this was happening. "I want her to be there. I think it's important to her, and I know it's important to me."

"Star, but you're so young..."

"They are my family, Daddy," she replied curtly. "I will be there for him and for Becca. They are my responsibility, mine to take care of, just like I'm yours."

"You can do that without being married, Rachel."

"I know, Dad, but I can't get married with her there if she's not alive. Noah deserves to have her there, she deserves to see that," she told them. "It's not up for negotiation. I just want you to be prepared because it could happen quickly if it comes down to that."

"I really wish you'd reconsider..."

"Well, I won't," she promised. "This is what I want."

"You know we'll support you, Star," her daddy promised. "We just want you to make the right choice for you."

"And that determination in your voice tells me you believe it is," her dad added. "I'm proud of you, Rachel. We love you."

"I love you too."

Later, Rachel found a note waiting for her on Noah's pillow. The lyrics reminded her that she had made the right decision: "When we were younger, we though everyone was on our side. Then we grew a little bit and romanticized the time I saw flowers in your hair. It takes a boy to live. It takes a man to pretend he was there."

Lyrics credit to "That Wasn't Me" by Brandi Carlisle and "Flowers in Your Hair" by The Lumineers.