They'd been back in Lima for nearly a week when Sam got the text off Kurt. She'd spent the last week sleeping in her childhood bedroom, with Sam and Lucy in the guest room down the hall and her Dads making her breakfast every morning and doing her washing. She felt like she was a teenager again, waiting for Noah to pull up outside her house to give her a lift to school in the truck that was slowly falling apart. Her wardrobe was still full of short skirts and animal sweaters, the days before Kurt had insisted on a new look for the big city. She'd been making breakfast with Sam, Lucy was still asleep upstairs, they'd made pancakes, or at least she had whilst Sam watched. The sudden blaring of Sam's phone had him hopping off the kitchen stool and jumping over the furniture in the living room in a hurry to reach his phone and stop the music before it woke Luce up.

"Kaleigh can't keep away huh?" she giggled from her place in front of the stove, flour decorating her face and surrounded by egg shells. ""Seems she'd got it just as bad as you do Sammy"

She couldn't see his face which had dropped the smile he'd been sporting only a few minutes ago as he read over the text from Kurt.

"Pucks here" That one sentence alone had her dropping the frying pan noisily, her hands instantly mocking to clear the mess she'd made on top of the counter. She'd spent the first few days of their visit thank God that it seemed like Noah wasn't going to bother to come back for next week's reunion. She'd spoken to Mrs Puckerman and even she hadn't didn't think he'd be coming home, she'd feigned a sad smile at that piece of information whilst secretly doing cartwheels inside. No-one had seen or spoken to him in years so why should he turn up? "He's been to see Artie, who started the grapevine" that explained why Kurt knew before them when he was still out LA, he wasn't due to fly home for another 3 days yet, "Looks like he's back for the reunion. You ok Rach?"

She was still cleaning up around her, the pancake in the pan left forgotten on the stove, she didn't get a chance to answer him though before Lucy was thumping her way down the stairs, her teddy bear clutched in her hands and rubbing at her eyes.

"Daddy, can we go see Auntie Tana today?"

In the week they'd been here they'd been to see all of the Gleeks who were already in Town. They had spent the day with Artie only yesterday and Rach had been shopping with Tina and Mercedes who'd both been waiting for them before they'd even parked the car on the first day. They'd all fussed and cooed over how cute Lucy was and she'd lapped up the attention, chuffed that she had more honorary aunts and uncles than she'd ever had out in New York. They'd all questioned Rachel on whether she was her mother and what the relationship status between her and Sam was, all being very disappointed when had to finally accept that she was not in fact Lucy's mother and her and Sam were just friends, best friends. What had shocked them both though was how well Lucy had connected with Santana who'd insisted on spending a girly day with her and Lucy and for the first time in her life, Santana had not thrown an insult her way unless it was accompanied by a smirk, apparently accepting her sexuality had led to a sudden growth in maturity, a sudden growth that also included a law firm in New York and a loft apartment they were both shocked to find out. Who'd have thought, Santana Lopez, a first class lawyer in New York of all places?

Lucy appearance seemed to shock Rachel out of the stupor she'd been in since the text had arrived though as she returned her attention to the pancakes she'd abandoned, scoping a few onto a place before adding syrup and sugar and placing them down on the table for the small.

"Sure Luce, you up for it Rach?"

"Sounds like a plan" she ruffled Lucy's hair before heading towards the stairs, intent on taking a shower and ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach at the thought of him being back in Lima, she was here to see people she hadn't seen in a while that she missed, she refused to let him ruin an entire trip, a trip she'd had to beg the director to let her take, promising to keep up her rehearsing whilst away from the theatre before the show opened in two months. "Maybe Daddy will even let us get slushy's on the way Luce"

Fuck, this could not be happening. Of all the times he could have run into Puck it had to be in 7-11, with Rachel and Lucy wandering around looking for the Cookie Dough Ice cream Santana had insisted they bring with them if they wanted to step foot inside her parents' home where she was staying. He'd been on his way over to the slushy machine to pick up slushy's for the two girls when he'd run right into Puck.

"Shit, sorry man. Need to look where I'm going" Puck apologized before they fell into their old routine, including the complicated fist bump they perfected back in senior year before Sam pulled the guy into a hug. Puck pulled away first, running his hand over his shaved head and Sam wondered when he'd gotten rid of the signature Mohawk.

"S'alright. You back in town for the reunion?"

"Yeah. Ma's been going all crazy on my ass, insisting I come home like everyone else for this shit. How's life man?"

But before he had a chance to answer Puck, Lucy had comer running towards him, squealing about how they'd found Auntie Tana's ice cream and could they have slushy's now.

"Please Daddy?" The girl had Rachel's puppy dog look perfected and he was sure he'd be in for s roller-coaster of a ride when she started using it during the teenage years; he was doomed before she'd even turned 5.

"Christ man, a kid?"

"Yeah, this is Lucy. This is Daddy's friend Puck, say hi Luce" she peeked up at him from behind his legs, giving Puck a shy smile before hiding her face in his jeans. She turned and ran back the way she came and instantly Sam knew it was all about to kick off. She returned with Santana's ice cream in one hand and her other clutching Rachel's as she dragged her towards the two men.

"Slow down Luce" She lifted her head to shoot some sarcastic comment at Sam when she realised that he wasn't alone, and fuck, he'd spent years trying to make sure she never had that look in her eyes again. It was the same one she'd had when he'd told her about Finn and Quinn, before he'd made the joke about them not working out because who dates someone who's name rhymed with theirs? That joke clearly wasn't true they'd found out though, the two had married last year apparently, settling in Lima and Quinn was now pregnant with their first child.

"Rach?"

"Puck"

Sam cringed at the steely tone in her voice as well as the use of the guy's nickname; she'd never not used his real name, her being the only one, bar his mother and sister, who could get away with calling him Noah. Puck had clearly felt the blow that came with that as he took a step back from Sam as Rachel stopped next to him, her hand still gripping Lucy's who was looking at the three of them in turn, confusion evident on her pretty little face.

"What's got your panties in a twist Berry?"

"I'm going to take Lucy to get a slushy and pay for Santana's Ice Cream. I'll see you out by the car Sam" and she turned, almost like Puck wasn't there at all and hadn't just spoken directly to her, Lucy's hand still in hers as she headed towards the slushy machine. Pucks face was the picture of disbelief; he almost looked confused as to why she was in such a mood with him.

"Wanna tell me what I did man?"

"You gotta be kidding? You genuinely don't know what's got her so pissed?" He couldn't be serious could he? Even Puck wasn't that thick as to think she'd be ok with him after just dropping her without a second thought! "Dude, you just left her! You spent the whole of senior year flirting with her and making her laugh when Finn was being a douche and then you just stopped! You were the first person she'd ever thought of as a best friend and you proved her fears right and just forgot about her once she'd left Lima" He hadn't realised how worked up he'd gotten over Puck ditching Rach, he'd always felt bad for her but he hadn't realised how much it must have genuinely hurt Rachel when she'd spent her entire school life telling herself that she didn't need anyone only for him to come along and trick her into thinking maybe, she'd been wrong.

"The fuck was I meant to do? Send her an email from Afghanistan!"

And here you have it guys, the first appearance of Noah Puckerman. Hope it's ok for you! Thanks to everyone who favourite and put on alerts for this story so far (: thanks for reading.