Disclaimer: I don't own Glee all rights belong to Ryan Murphy and Fox…I'm only borrowing the characters for a little bit of fun writing!

Chapter 5

Quinn Fabray had just arrived at her parent's house. She had tried to stay away as much as possible because of the whole kicking her out when she really needed them thing. She loved her parents, but really? WTF? They were horrible to her, she was normally a very forgiving person, but she just couldn't let that go. Yes, she realized it had been five years since they'd done that. But she still wondered how much different her life had been had she not gotten pregnant and had to make the biggest decision she'd make in her life at the tender age of sixteen. She did think about her daughter from time to time, but she realized it wasn't what she'd wanted. Having a child and being a child herself. Didn't really scream life's goal to her. She had been against abortion from the start because there was a person, not an "it", growing inside her. But as far as the whole adoption thing went, she was very thankful for Mrs. Corcoran. And even though she'd put him through hell, Puck had actually been really decent to her. Besides the fighting over to keep her or not, they had been pretty okay with the idea. Or at least she had been, she doesn't think Puck really wanted to give Beth away. Beth, it was such a small word. And the hardest one for Quinn to say. Puck deserved to be a dad, but Quinn didn't deserve to be a mother, and she knew that with all her heart. At least not a mother at sixteen, now? No, in another five years? Possibly. She just wasn't in a hurry to be in that situation again. Her mother had always pretended serious issues were blasphemy in their home. And the baby issue was swept under the rug like yesterday's dust. Neither Q's mother nor father even acknowledged the thought, much less the actual being, that was their grandchild. And sometimes that bothered Quinn, but she had grown accustomed to the fact that she had not been ready, and neither had they for a baby. Puck? Puck on the other hand was a much deeper person than Quinn had ever known he could be. And if she could do it all over, she would have given him Beth instead of allowing her to be adopted. At least that way, the little girl could have one decent parent. And she'd never wanted Beth to have to deal with the kind of parents she herself had been given. They were the most shallow, useless people Quinn knew. And she'd learned how to be shallow from them. If it hadn't been for Puck, Mercedes, hell even Rachel, and the other gleeks; Quinn would never have known how real people acted.

So here she was, back in Lima. She'd graduated from high school and instantly chose a college as far away as possible, SCAD University in Savannah, GA. She was in her Junior year of Fashion Design. Something she'd always loved, clothes. And she was doing very well, her grades were high and she'd even be involved the annual summer fashion show this year. The school had this event to showcase the designs of their students. Which was really great for Quinn, she was completely in love with the fact they she would be showcasing her dress designs.

Quinn braced herself for her current visit, she really hated coming home. Her parents were so adamant about her visiting at least once a year, they knew they couldn't ask (or deserve for that matter) any more than that.

On the other side of town…

Beth took off running to the playground and found a tunnel to hide in after hearing the words 'my daughter' from Rachel's friend.

"Ah, shit." Puck declared. He put his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. His head dropping, his mother had been right! How the fuck did she always know he wouldn't be able to hold his tongue? Rachel gave him an annoyed look before trying to follow her little sister back to the playground. Her sorrow had been quickly replaced by anger, when Noah had said to give Beth a few minutes.

When Beth got to the tunnel, she saw there was already an older girl sitting there. Beth wasn't sure how old she was, but she could tell the blond girl was way older than her. The girl motioned for Beth to join her after she'd seen the little girl's hesitation. Beth shook her head no at first replying, "Mommy says not to talk to or sit with strangers."

"My name is Justyce, Justyce Freeman. Now we're not strangers. What's your name?" Beth sat down beside her in the tunnel, then they began talking.

"My name is Beth, um I don't know my real last name." The five year old decided quietly. Justyce, whom was twelve, giggled.

"How do you not know your last name?"

Beth let out an exasperated breath while she answered, "I know my last name is Corcoran. But I can't remember what my real last name is. Noah, or whoever, said it a minute ago." She explained as if it were a normal everyday thing. Forgetting one's last name. Now Justyce was confused.

"Your real last name? What do you mean?" Beth rolled her blue eyes heavenly.

"That guy is my dad, like my real dad. My mommy adopted me, that lady," she hitched her thumb in Rachel's direction, "is my adopted sister." Then she covered her chest again with her arms in what she thought to be an intimidating way. Justyce seemed to ponder that for a time.

"Well, at least they love you. I was watching you guys earlier. Your? Noah, was staring at you like he wanted to hug you till you fell apart. And your sister said be careful. My mother tells me not to get arrested cause she'd not bailing my butt outta jail. Then she drinks her beer and falls asleep." Justyce wasn't sure why she was sharing her life story with a five year old, but it made her feel better and Beth uncrossed her arms and reached for Justyce's hand. At first the girl wasn't sure what to do. She stared at the little girl next to her.

"I'm sorry. Would you like to eat with us? Rachel, my sister, made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches." Beth offered, but Justyce just smiled and shook her head.

"Nah, thanks anyway. My best friend Dee always meets me here with her cousin D.J and his friend Ricky. Then we walk to Big Mama's house. She gives us lunch."

"Big Mama?" Beth asked. Justyce giggled again, explaining that's what Dee called her grandmother. Beth nodded her head. The girls said goodbye. Beth exited the tunnel to the right and Justyce exited to the left, where Beth saw three other bigger kids approaching. Justyce turned back to Beth, waved and smiled. Then she left.

Meanwhile…

"Give her a few minutes, Rach. That's what I always did when I heard my parents fighting. I'd run and hide somewhere." He gently dropped the arm he'd reached for earlier to stop her. Rachel still looked pissed, but conceded anyway.

"We aren't her parents. You are, as you so adamantly pointed out." Rachel couldn't stop herself sometimes. Puck hoisted his shoulders up and let them fall as he exhaled.

"Look, I want to be part of her life. I don't want to take her away from you. But I don't want you to take her away from me either." He answered in the most honest way he could without pissing Berry off again. Wait, hadn't he been calling her Rachel all this time? Uh-oh. He'd let himself get involved with her before he even thought about it. Back there by the picnic table when he'd said it was his place if he put himself there. Mother. Fucker. Rachel eyed him suspiciously, looked towards Beth, then back to Noah.

"Noah, I would never take your rights away the way Quinn did. I hope you know that." Puck's face was one of shock and disbelief. That was the official moment he fell in love with Rachel Berry. Fuck me. That was also the moment his daughter rejoined them at the table.

Noah looked at Beth, then Rachel, then back to Beth. The five year old stared down both adults. She was looking at Noah, his eyes were…worried. And Rachel had sighed and then smiled. Maybe that Justyce girl had known what she was saying.

"Are you okay, little one? You want to talk about it?" Rachel reached for Beth, she hugged her big sister.

"Yes, I'm okay." Beth looked over Rachel's shoulder at Puck. He was standing there with his hands tucked in his pockets again. She whispered 'put me down' in Rachel's ear. Confused and curious, Rachel did so.

Beth walked over to Puck. She looked up at him, then down at her pink tennis shoes while she spoke, "Are you my real dad, Noah?" The most innocent of questions brought tears to Rachel's eyes immediately. She wondered how Noah was going to answer.

The man seemed stunned, he hadn't expected her to come right out and ask him like that. It was a little unsettling. He wasn't sure what to say. But he didn't want his daughter to ever think he didn't want her. Like he'd always thought his dad hadn't wanted him and Ariel. Puck squatted so he could be closer to Beth's height and gave his answer.

"Yes. I wanted to be your dad from the start. But I was young and I had no choice in the matter, really. No one asked me what I wanted, they just made decisions like I wasn't even there. So I'm going to ask you now, do you want me to be your dad? I know that your mommy is very sick right now. And that Rachel can take care of you," Rachel wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled briefly at those words, "But I'd like to help you if you'll let me." Puck felt tears welling in his hazel eyes, he held them at bay, though. That would so not be badass to cry in front of his daughter or Rachel.

Beth looked up from her shoes, she was crying too. That broke his own resolve as she nodded yes and his tears were set free. Rachel had been watching the whole time, she wasn't sure what to do with herself.

Beth threw her arms around her dad's neck. Puck picked her up, squeezing tightly, but not so much she couldn't breathe. Rachel was still observing everything, sobbing now, as he shifted Beth to his hip and stretched his other arm to gather Rachel in a hug as well. This was such a perfect moment. He wasn't sure if he'd felt this happy in years. Rachel continued to cry as did Beth. It would be such an odd picture if anyone had been around to witness this 'blended family'. Outsiders would probably think they were an actual family. Noah the caring dad, Rachel the nurturing mom, and Beth the doted daughter.

Quinn Fabray had not been at her parents house long when they'd had yet another argument. This time over a seemingly risqué dress design she was showing her mother, when her father had walked in and started ranting about how Satanic it was. Please, she thought, such a fucking hypocrite. She told her mother goodbye, that she was going to stay at Brittany's house tonight, and drove to the park across town. She had just been wandering around when she'd stumbled upon the site of a family embracing one another. It was nice to see some people had a wonderful family life. Hers lacked many things to be desired. She was watching them for a moment, it seemed the dad and his daughter had had some sort of fight. He was bent down to her level as the little girl was talking to him. From this distance, she didn't recognize either of the adults, though they seemed to be around her age, 21. She wasn't sure what drew her nearer, maybe it was the fact that she had longed for that feel good family thing since her parents had kicked her out. She had only walked ten feet or so when she finally recognized the woman. Rachel Berry, she knew that girl's nose (sorry, but one couldn't miss that) any where. But the guy was too busy looking at his daughter for her to get a full view of his face. Then it hit her, as soon as he'd pulled away from the woman and sat the little girl on the top of the picnic table. It was Noah Puckerman, which meant what? Quinn didn't know. They had seemed like any normal family until she'd gotten a look at Puck. And who's little dark haired girl was that? She decided she'd say hello. She would admit it, she was damn curious as to whom that little girl was. She had a feeling she knew, but wanted concrete evidence that it was her. So Quinn walked up on them as they were sitting down to eat. She cleared her throat, before speaking.

"Hi, guys. Wow, what are you guys doing? I haven't seen you in like what? Five years?" Quinn broke the silence. She was sure that Puck would say something rude, but she didn't expect to hear what Rachel was about to tell her.

"Hey, Quinn. How are you? You know Noah, this is my little sister Beth Corcoran." Rachel smiled up at her sweetly, okay a little sarcastically at best. But she felt Quinn deserved it. Maybe Rachel had tapped into some unknown dislike of the woman standing in front of her. She'd always been kind to Quinn, even when Q had been a perfect bitch to her in school.

Quinn's jaw dropped, but she quickly recovered as the little girl spoke to her.

"Hi, Quinn, I'm Beth. Nice to meet you." She held her hand out to Quinn to shake, as if she had no knowledge of whom she was. Which Quinn thought, in all reality, she doesn't. Puck seemed quite uncomfortable, which was very unlike him. Q focused on that after she'd said it was nice to meet Beth.

"Hello, Puck. How are you?" She made it a point to sit beside him on the bench where he and Beth were eating. Rachel was sitting alone on the other side and Q felt ironically superior . That's right, we're the family, not you. Quinn thought maliciously.

"Q, how's it going? Heard you were down at SCAD in Georgia. You liking it there?" He was being overly polite. Puck was seething at the way she'd sat next to him and Beth like she fucking belonged there. Rachel belonged there, not this bitch.

"Yes, actually I am. It's a nice change from Lima, or Loserville, as I like to call it." She smirked. She was determined to make him feel like shit cause he was sitting with Beth and Rachel fucking Berry. Like they were all a happy little family. For some reason that really pissed her off. It wasn't the fact that Beth was there, she really didn't care for the girl other than as the baby she'd let go. There were no other feelings in her heart associated with this five year old girl sitting next to Puck. She hadn't really been paying attention to Beth, which pissed both Puck and Rachel off. She was hell bent on making Puck suffer for even being around Berry. Quinn still disliked man hands very much.

"Excuse me, Miss Quinn? But I don't think Lima is Loserville, why do you? I happen to think it's a beautiful place. That's why my mommy told me we stayed here instead of joining my sister in New York." Beth commented, she wasn't sure what was going on. But she knew she didn't like the way this lady was making mean faces at her sister and talking ugly to her daddy.

Quinn blinked her eyes, tearing them away from the pissed look on Puck's face. Then she looked around to the little girl.

"What?" Quinn asked, then looked over to Berry, "You live in New York?" She was floored, she suddenly lost all her momentum. She'd actually done it? Rachel had made it to NY? She was stunned into silence when she heard Beth gloat,

"Yes, my sister is on Broadway. Ever heard of that?" Beth cocked an eyebrow at Quinn. She looked almost like Puck with that gesture. Quinn laughed nervously.

"Yes, of course. Well, congrats, Berry. I mean, Rachel. I'm sorry I've been so rude. I guess I just can't help myself sometimes when I see the people I went to high school with. I instantly fall back into bitch mode." Quinn admonished. Rachel told her it was fine, Puck didn't say anything cause he was too busy watching Beth to see what she was going to say or do next.

"That's not a nice word, you know? My mommy says those are curse words and should never be said." Beth stated matter-of-factly. Quinn didn't even cringe or feel anything at the word mother used in the sense of someone else. Rachel seemed to notice this at the same time as Puck looked at Quinn to see if she'd respond to 'mommy' too. Nothing.

"Well, Beth, your mommy is right. I'm sorry for saying it." With that, she slid off the bench next to Puck and joined Rachel on the other side. Which shocked the hell out of Rachel.

"So tell me more about New York! What's it like? I bet you love it, and probably have like a ton of boyfriends. Gimme the details." Quinn spoke to Rachel as if they'd been best friends all their lives, thus giving Rachel another uncomfortable shock.

Puck, however, bowed at the thought of Rachel having 'lots of boyfriends'. He didn't like that thought at all and apparently Beth didn't either cause she joined the adult's conversation again.

"Rachel doesn't have a boyfriend. If my mommy dies, Rachel and my daddy are going to get married and take care of me." Beth stated before taking another bite of her pb and j sandwich.

That had done it, Quinn fumed, "what? Your…you know he's your daddy?" She wasn't sure if she was furious because Beth knew whom Puck was and didn't know whom Quinn was. Or if she was mad about the fact that the woman she'd chosen to be Beth's mother was dying or if it was all because Rachel might actually be her new mother soon. Quinn was confused, she felt like the five year old out of the loop of an adult conversation she never should have interrupted.

"Sweetie, do you know whom your real mommy is?" Quinn tried for broke, this further angered Rachel and Puck.

"Of course she does, you fucking bitch! Shelby is her mother! And if you don't remove yourself from my presence right now, I'll remove you myself." Beth's eyes grew big at the string of curses that escaped her sister's mouth. Puck was also surprised, but a bit proud. And Quinn was sincerely affronted.

"Rachel, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." Quinn tried, Rachel calmed herself.

"Look, Quinn, I understand your confused and probably upset right now," Rachel took hold of Quinn's arm and lead her away from the table. She didn't want Beth to hear anymore of the conversation if she happened to curse again, "but don't do that to her. She's just learned, in like the past few days, that her mother is dying of cancer. She's also just met her adopted sister for the first time and her real dad as well. Now tell me, is there any part of that you don't understand?" Rachel finished by patronizing Quinn as if she were actually five.

"Okay, I get it. I was just so awe struck with the scene at first. The perfect family I'd seen before I'd recognized you and Puck. I don't mean anything by it. I guess I'm a little jealous that you have always had such a great family, and even Puck's mom is great. Though she and I really didn't get along, and his dad is an asshole. But he's coped. I never wanted Beth to raise, but it makes me feel like an outsider while I'm sitting with the three of you. I apologize for the discomfort I've caused all of you. I'm just going to go back to my car and head back to Georgia. If you're ever around Atlanta, you know if your show comes to Atlanta, look me up. I'd really like us to be friends. But this? This is too much. I'm proud that Puck is taking this seriously. I always knew he would, I'm sure you have too. So, I'm going to get on the road. Bye, Rachel." Quinn finished her drawn out explanation and left without a backwards glance at any of them.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this! I finally got around to Quinn, I know it wasn't much, but I don't really care to confuse Beth any further, so this is probably the last time we'll see Q. Kay? Well, review please!