A/N: This is a very short chapter, but I have to have a small out-patient surgery tomorrow and I'm tired, so I split this chapter into 2 segments, which works out better for the song, anyway. Hope you enjoy! **Also, holy craptastic Batman - Mark Salling was HOT tonight! Good God, that man is gorgeous. Seriously. Wow.**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

He couldn't believe his luck. His heart had nearly burst during his last performance; he had lain it all down on the line for her. Every word he sang, every time he looked at her, he was trying to tell her that he needed her. And when he had let the last note carry out into silence, he had waited with anticipation for her response.

She didn't disappoint. He watched as their special-secret smile crept across her face and she walked down to him. He was vaguely aware of the rest of his glee-mates staring at them intently, but as she walked towards him their eyes caught and he felt as if he was burning with love for her.

She stepped closer to him and he reached his arms around her, finally feeling the warmth of her skin for the first time in months.

"I knew you would come back to me," she whispered, and relief flooded through him and he leaned his head down towards hers. He pulled her against his body and she felt as if she fit perfectly to him. The centers of her warmth were perfectly placed to match up with his, and when she moved against him he felt a little zing of perfection.

When he finally got to kiss her, he felt as if every chick-flick his mom had made him watch had lied to him. Fireworks in the background? Nah. Total disappearance of watching crowds? No way. Not even close, Noah thought, and parted his lips slightly.

He could feel Rachel respond to his kiss – her lips parted open and felt her dart her tongue across his lips, tasting him. She sighed and he almost lost control of himself in the middle of the glee room. As it was, he deepened the kiss and she opened her mouth more fully to him. She tasted absolutely amazing he thought – better than before. He was trying to come up with enough adjectives to describe the way she tasted when he heard a hmm hmm from behind him.

He slowly pulled away from Rachel, catching her lower lip in his teeth and then pecking her lightly on the lips.

"Yes?" he queried, the grin on his face transforming him.

"Maybe we'll end our set with that at regionals," Mr. Schuester said. "And maybe we'll end it just like that…Now take that kind of behavior somewhere it belongs – like the backseat of a car, perhaps?" Mr. Schue joked, and they all laughed.

All of the glee kids began to approach him, congratulating him on his performance; laughing and joking about having been in on Rachel's surprise. He heard words be spoken, felt hugs from many people, but he only had eyes for her. He left the group of glee-kids and walked back over to her.

"Ready to go?" he asked her, and held out his hand.

"Yes," she replied, and the smile on her face made him the happiest he'd ever been in his life. He gathered his guitar case and backpack and met her at the door.

"Thanks, guys!" he called as he and Rachel strolled out arm-in-arm.

They walked to his truck in silence, Rachel leaning her head lightly against his arm as they walked. When they got to his truck, he opened the passenger door for her and lifted her inside.

He shut her door gently and raced around to the other side of the car. He jumped in and turned to face her. She was leaning against the side of the cab and when he got in, she began to lean towards him.

He slid across the seat and took her face in his hands. He rained kisses all over her face – across her eyelids and forehead, down her nose, on her cheekbones and jaw-line. She was sighing rapidly and he trailed his kisses up the left side of her face the tender area just beneath her ear.

She gasped and dug her fingers into his shoulders, pulling him closer. His tongue flicked across her skin and he couldn't believe that she actually tasted as good as she smelled. He sucked lightly on her earlobe and he could feel the goosebumps raise on her arms when his teeth grazed the skin.

"Wait," Rachel said, pushing lightly against his chest. "Not here. Not now. And we need to talk first," she said.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked her. His sister was spending the night with her best friend tonight, and his mom was working a 12-hour shift at Lima Regional.

"Take me home?" she asked him quietly. He slipped away from her and buckled his seatbelt. He put the truck in gear and they rode in silence. It was odd to him – they used to talk about everything nonstop, and he would daydream about what it would be like to kiss her. Now, he knew what it was like to kiss her, and all he was able to do was daydream about how to talk to her without actually talking to her.

He pulled into her driveway and was relieved to see that neither of her fathers' cars were in the garage. The last time he had seen them, he had not been at his best. He was sure they understood, but it was still odd to think of seeing them again.

He put the truck into park and then turned it off. The silence stretched through the truck cab, and he sat there looking at Rachel. "What do you want to do now?" he asked her.

"Come with me," she told him, and got out of the truck. He followed her in silence, watching the way her dress moved as she swished her tiny little hips. He watched her hair flutter in the breeze and he was so drawn to her he was beginning to feel an ache that could only be relieved by kissing her, touching her.

She led him up to her room and sat him down on the bed. She took off her shoes and socks and sat crossed-legged, staring at him.

"Why wouldn't you talk to me?" she asked him, and he saw a tear run down her cheek. Of all the things he could be doing right now, this was the one thing he had hoped not to have to do yet.

"I…couldn't. When Leah died, and they told me in the hospital I literally lost my grip on reality. Finn said I broke free of his hold on me and attempted to attack the driver of the other car. He and your dads stopped me, but I didn't even know what I was doing. It was as if I had lost all purpose, all direction, all definition," he couldn't look at her while he told her this. It was still so fresh, it was still so much.

"And then, when I came back to the hospital to see you, and to see Quinn, you were asleep, and I didn't want to wake you up. But you just looked so determined, even in your sleep, and it reminded me of everything you had been determined about and I couldn't bear that pain. I retreated into myself. I was in a hole that I could not climb my way out of." He had gotten up off of the bed and was pacing in front of her.

"I kind of lost my mind, Rachel, and everyday when you would show up it would drive me just a little bit crazier because I thought you were only coming because you felt obligated to do so, even though you were mad at me for kissing you. It felt like you were coming because you had to be there, not that you needed to be there. I know that's stupid!" he cut her off when she opened her mouth.

"I know, now, that that's not what it was. But I was in a bad place and I couldn't make anything good out of anything. I couldn't see any light anywhere around me. And by the time I knew that I needed help to get out of where I was, I had pushed everyone away."

"Why didn't you tell me you named her?" Rachel asked him, and he heard her voice crack.

"Because I wanted to be the one to tell you when I was ready to tell you why I chose the name Leah. Because it involves telling you about how I've had a daydream or two about having you be the mother of my children – including the one you were helping me to fight for custody of." He sat back down on the edge of her bed and put his head in his hands, facing away from her.

"Rachel, I miss her so much," he whispered, and began to cry. He had been nearly overcome with emotion when he had sung "Tears in Heaven" for her during his glee performance. Talking about her with Rachel made it more real than anything else, because she had been so involved.

"I miss her, too," Rachel said to him, and she moved closer behind him, placing her head on his shoulder. Hearing Rachel said this made him cry harder. He had known how much she had cared about Leah. He felt awful for having cut her out of his life, for having denied her knowledge of the daughter that could have one day been hers as well.

He felt her pull him backwards onto the bed and she positioned him so that they were spooning inward, arms around each other.

"I'm sorry I let you down," he told her, looking deep into her eyes.

"You didn't let me down, Noah," she told him. "I just thought I had lost you, because you had lost yourself. I just didn't know how to get you back to yourself again."

"You helped me everyday. Thank-you for always answering the phone," he chuckled to her.

"I knew eventually, you would answer. I knew that someday you would begin to climb out of the hole you were in, and that you'd finally be able to see me and reach out. I just had to wait," she told him.

"Thank-you for waiting," he whispered to her and leaned across her bed to kiss her. Their lips were just beginning to meet and his fingers were just starting to wind their way though her hair when he heard the front door open and Mr. Berry call out, "Is that Noah Puckerman's truck out front, Rachel?"

She pulled away from him as if she had received a giant shock and came to the top of the stairs. "Yes, daddy," she said.

Disappointed, Noah sat on the edge of the bed and pulled his shoes back on. He met Rachel at the doorway and as he passed her to go down the stairs he whispered to her, "this isn't over yet."

He saw a shiver ripple through her and he smirked a little bit as he made his way down the stairs to talk to Mr. Berry.