"Puckerman Jonesing for Jones!" Mercedes read the newspaper headline aloud as she walked into her bedroom. "Cheesy asses." she thought out loud as she rolled her eyes and tossed the paper to Noah who had been sitting on the other side of the bed shirtless, sleep still in his eyes. Yawning he picked up the paper and read the title again. "Lame ass fuckers" he groaned. "Clearly, you're the one who's addicted." he smirked looking over his shoulder at his girlfriend. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, says the one who loved it so much he just had to get a baby out of it." she sassed and adjusted his T-shirt that hung off her shoulder. Making jokes out of it was all they could do with the shit storm that was headed their way. Nothing had prepared either of them for this moment. It was in every newspaper, magazine and on every gossip show. Sure, being a celebrity meant allowing all of the world into your lives, but Mercedes had built a wall that only allowed them but so far. That was until the world found out that the NY Giants edge pass-rusher, Noah "Puck" Puckerman fathered the child of one singer/songwriter Mercedes "Miss Mercy J" Jones. TMZ was having field's day with this story.

"You know they're gonna be out for blood. Think you can handle it?" he asked placing a kiss to his girlfriend's lips.

"Do I have a choice?" she snapped then turned to apologize. "I'm sorry." she spoke softly and kissed him back, pulling away slowly. "I'll tell them like I told you. I've made some mistakes, mistakes I'm not proud of but I thought I was doing what was best for all of us, especially Leilani. That's all a parent can do, right?"

Noah couldn't really relate to how she must have been feeling, but still he nodded in agreement. Silence filled the air as they thought about what happened just a couple months ago that resulted in the mess they were going through right now.

"No, no. He doesn't know. Why do you mean why? I can't tell Noah-"

"Can't tell Noah what?" he asked as he emerged into the kitchen where Mercedes was on the phone talking to someone, eyebrows raised as he placed a kiss to the side of her head. He couldn't tell who, but from the look on her face he could tell that she and whoever was one the other line were in a deep conversation and he wasn't supposed to hear anything of it.

"Oh n-nothing. Nothing at all." Mercedes stammered biting her lip. "I gotta go." she whispered into the phone before ending the call. She didn't expect him to come that soon.

Mercedes and Noah had dated a while back. A romance that resulted in the birth of a beautiful baby girl, only, Noah had no knowledge of it. Mercedes was only a few weeks when she found out and had broken up with him. She blamed it on their busy schedules, something about not having enough time for one another. With football season starting and her recording her album, there was no way the two of them could stay together. At least that's what she told him. Noah was crushed but he believed she was right, so he let her go without so much of a fight , but vowed to get her back when the time was right for the both of them. They had only gotten reacquainted a few months ago at the premiere of a movie. A few drinks later, more than just words were exchanged and neither regretted the encounter. The pair began dating shortly after that, becoming Hollywood's "IT" couple. Everywhere they went, people were dying to know about the life of pro athlete Noah Puckerman and singer/songwriter Mercedes Jones. The issue that caused the most drama revolved around Mercedes' little girl Leilani Noelle. Mercedes had done quite a good job of keeping her daughter out of the spotlight. You only saw or heard about her when Mercedes wanted you to. It wasn't the life that she had chosen and she didn't want to put that kind of pressure on a child at such a young age. Still, many wondered how the former bachelor was adjusting to being in a committed relationship with a woman who had a child that, to everyone but Mercedes and a selected few, didn't belong to him. The media also played on the fact that when they did see them out together or whenever pictures of the little girl surfaced with she and Noah, the little looked a lot like Noah. Enough to possibly be related to him. Noah noticed too, only once someone said it but Mercedes seemed to ignore it, never cracking under pressure or giving Noah any inklings that the press might have been right. However, a little part of him wondered. A promise to not dwell or speak on the past is what caused Noah to leave the subject alone. If the little girl belonged to him, Mercedes would have told him so.

"How was practice, baby?" she smiled and turned to kiss him on the cheek, hoping to change the course of the conversation,

"It was fine." Noah replied flatly. "Now what can't you tell me?" he asked again as he stalked forward.

Mercedes shook her head and took a step back. "It's nothing just, um, Lani, she um, broke your watch. That's it, she broke your watch and I was just going to replace it before you found out." she lied through her teeth.

"My watch?" he asked confused. "Like my Rolex?" Mercedes nodded and he advanced forward causing her to back up more. "That's odd because well, my Rolex is on my arm." he flashed her the gold accessory on his wrist. "So tell me what's really going on. What can't you tell me girl? Spit it out!"

"Really Noah it's nothing." Mercedes reasoned as she made a B-line for the living room.

"You're lying. I can tell. Did you cheat on me or something? Please don't tell me you cheated on me." he sighed feeling his heart drop as he followed her into the living room.

"Hell no! I did not cheat on you. It hurts that you would even think so lowly of me that that thought was the first thing to come to mind." Mercedes spun on her heels and hit his chest.

"Thank god!" he whispered to himself and sighed in relief. "I don't think so. And I wasn't implying that you would. I just wanted to get the worse possible answer out there to eliminate it. Now look, whatever it is I'm sure we can work through it. Just tell me? Did somebody die?"

"Someone might, after you find out." she mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" he asked as his brows furrowed

"Nothing." she shook her head quickly. "I just...I might have, sorta, kinda lied about something important."

"What did you lie about?"

"I didn't really lie. I just may have neglected to tell you something."

"Okay, well, what did you neglect to tell me? Come on, tell me!" he begged becoming impatient. "You miraculously got a criminal record? You had a one night stand in Vegas and you're still legally married to someone? You're a big shot drug lord? You work for the CIA and singing is just a cover? Like what is it?"

"No, Noah. I don't have a criminal record but I might after I kill you." she hissed. "A drug lord? Really? I do not sell or do drugs asshole. And no, I'm not married to anyone either, nor do I work for the CIA. This isn't Mr. and Mrs. Smith." she answered before he got to ask again.

"So what is it Cedes? I'm dying here."

"She's yours." she spoke softly, feeling defeated and flops down on the couch while tears stream down her face.

"What do you mean "she's mine"?" he asked confused about her confession.

"Leilani." she spoke above a whisper and flopped back on to the couch as tears filled her eyes. Her hands covered her face as she sobbed. She grabbed one of the couch pillows and placed it in her lap, bringing her feet up to her chest and takes a deep breath. "She's… she's yours. I... I didn't break up with you because our schedules became too much to handle, or because I cheated and got pregnant by someone else. Her hazel eyes and "I don't give a fuck attitude belong to you. She's your daughter Noah. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"You're lying." Puck huffed and jumped to his feet, not wanting to believe what he'd just heard.

"Look at me? Do you really think I'd lie to you about something like this." Mercedes shot back.

"You've lied to me before. How do I know you're not lying to me now?"

"I've never lied to you. I said I neglected to tell you things but I've never lied to you. Why the hell would I start now?"

"Lying. Not telling me. It's all the same damn thing Mercedes."

"No it's not. I said I was sorry Noah."

"Sorry my ass."

"You know what; I don't have time for this. You wanted to know so I told you, but since you can't handle it, just leave Noah. Forget I said anything and get the hell out of my house." Mercedes jumped up throwing the pillow at him, along with the rest of the pillows that decorated the couch.

"Leave? Leave!? I'm not leaving! You tell me that she's my daughter and then try to kick me out. What the hell is your problem? Why would you keep something like this from me?"

"You were busy working on trying to be this huge athlete star and I didn't want to ruin your dreams. You worked so hard, I..I couldn't let you resent me. So I left, moved away and postponed my album until after I had her. I did little shows here and there. The label executives didn't mind as long as I was able to write number 1 hits." she spoke through the tears that had begun to fall free from her eyes. "I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't think we'd ever see each other again, not like this, so there was no need to tell you. And believe me, I wanted to tell you when we first got back together but I thought you'd hate me. Guess I was right."

"I don't hate you Mercedes. As much as I want to hate you from hiding the fact that I have a fucking daughter, I can't. But, I'M MAD AS HELL." his words dripped with venom. "Does she know? I mean she's still a baby and all, but does she know, that I'm her father?"

"First, 3 years old is not a baby and sorta. She knows her daddy's name is Noah and that your name is Noah. There's a picture in her drawer, but I didn't tell her that you were daddy. She just thinks you "look like daddy". You didn't know, so there was no reason to tell her then and there's no reason for me to tell her now. It would just complicate things." she tried to reason.

"What do you mean there's no reason to tell her. I'm her fucking and I don't want her growing up think that her daddy didn't want her. That's reason enough. So, I hope you're ready to tell her, because you're gonna tell her. NOW!" he demanded pulling her arm towards the steps.

"Who the hell do you think you are, telling me what to do? My father?" she jerked away from him.

"No! But apparently I'm her father!"