Kaleigh turns out to be a lovely woman, a head all of dark curls, hazel eyes and a small but curvy frame, the complete opposite of Quinn Fabrey just like Sam had said. She'd been quick to engulf Rachel in a tight hug, hurriedly promising that she'd heard all about their story and that she would never get jealous over the closeness of her and Sam and that maybe they could be close too. That had been unexpected. Lucy had chosen that moment to come barrelling into the room, blonde curls flying wildly around her as she crashed into Rachel, her small arms wrapping themselves around her legs before she leaned down to throw the four year old in the air, catching her as she giggled excitedly before asking had Rachel met Daddy's new friend.

Sam hadn't come back till late so she'd ended up crashing in his spare room, Lucy curled up beside her because there had been monsters under her own bed and Daddy wasn't around to scare them off.

They were in their special coffee shop, her hands curled around a mug of coffee that she'd nearly finished, as she listened to the details of last night.

"She's just so…amazing Rach! After Quinn and then Katie I thought I was over the whole falling in love thing but fuck, she'd just so...perfect. What did your awesome girly senses tell you Rach?"

She rolled her eyes at him playfully before reprimanding him about his language in front of Lucy and launching into a detailed description of what she thought of the girl ending with a simple

"I like her"

"And you got all that from the 20 minutes you spent with her? Knew there was a reason we were friends" he grinned back at her.

"Apart from my awesome babysitting skills?" she feigned disgust and then began on starting a stream of fake tears in an attempt to make him apologize and buy her another coffee, after all she was sitting there in her jeans and boots from last night with one of his shirts on, not a good look if you asked her.

"You fell for the monsters under the bed crap! How is that awesome babysitting skills? And there's no need to pretend your crying Rach, I'm already on my way up to the counter. Another coffee you're royal highness?"

He'd already moved from his seat before she had the chance to answer so instead she turned to watch Lucy scribbling in crayon what looked to be a picture of the three of them.

"Hey Luce, maybe you should draw a picture with Daddy's friend Kaleigh in. I bet she'd love that!" s

She watched in amusement as the little girl nodded eagerly before grabbing a brown crayon, nearly spilling her cup of orange juice over. Lucy had seemed to like Kaleigh but she knew how much the child could hide behind those dopey smiles that reminded her so much of her father. It had always been just the three of them and she was starting to wonder how a fourth would affect Lucy and the stability they'd tried so hard to keep up whilst still ensuring that she never confused Rachel for her mother. She wondered whether Sam planned on bringing Lucy with him back to Lima or whether he'd leave her here and whether she could get away with using the excuse that one of them had to stay with her.

"I know your still trying to think of a way out of going to the reunion Rach. You've been trying all morning" He dropped another cup down in front of her, moving Lucy's away from her drawing as he sat back down, flicking his hair out of his eyes as he did and watching as she gaped at him. "I know you, remember. You'll go through all the worse possible scenarios and then look for a way out. Only you're going and so am I because for the first time in years I can look Quinn in the eyes and say I'm better off. And you deserve the same with Finn. Not to mention it's a chance to see Kurt and Tina and Mercedes again, people I know you've missed"

"What about…"

"I'm gonna bring Luce with us, Mike's been begging to see her again, apparently the entire week they spent mucking about together wasn't enough. Y'know sometimes I wonder how on earth he runs his own studio, guy acts like a child!" he paused to take a large gulp of his own coffee before carrying on "I was thinking maybe we could drive down next week?" She doesn't answer him though and instead looks down at Lucy who's still sitting down next to her, scribbling furiously with her crayons, several of them already lying broken on the table. "This isn't about Finn is it?"

She gives him a small shake of her head, her eyes still downcast.

"I haven't seen Noah since that night on the bleachers."

Sam sighed, what was it with Puck that Rach just couldn't get passed? He'd heard the stories of how he'd just stopped answering her calls and he agreed that Puck was wrong but surely she should be more worried about seeing her ex? Last he'd heard, Puck had dropped off of the Gleek grapevine that Kurt had insisted they kept going. No-one had spoken to him and no-one had seem him in at least a year, the last person to have being Santana who'd just insisted he had been lonely that night although nobody believed her completely, it was Santana after all.

"Rach, chances are Pucks not even going to show his face. We're gonna do this" He doesn't miss the small smile she gives him as she finally lifts her eyes back to him and all of a sudden he's got this strong brotherly urge to protect her, only he's not sure who she needs saving from anymore. "Together"

Sorry this one's quite short and it's not great either guys, it's just to fill in the gaps before the next chapter. Thanks for reading (: