A/N - So the lesson I've learnt is that while I do get more reviews for cliffhanger chapters, I'm just sticking to the story and ending it where it makes sense (in my head). So no cliffhanger here but a nice surprise visit to an old flame. I've also incorporated a song within the chapter as a mini glee tribute. Tell me if it works :)

My Future in Your Hands

Smile, though your heart is aching

Smile, even though it's breaking

When there are clouds in the sky

You'll get by...

Charlie Chaplin

Shelby had been kind enough to give her some privacy with Beth, choosing to leave the room after she made sure that Beth was ok with Quinn being there. It hadn't been easy and Quinn didn't expect it to be. However, she also didn't expect to feel so physically drained and to feel hurt at the fact that she's missed out on the her daughter's life.

She does not show any of it though, answering Beth's questions with a smile as she recounts her past exploits in Glee and her current life in New York.

"What about my dad?" Even though Quinn had been expecting the question, her small smile falters because Noah Puckerman was another big regret for her. Initially, she had regretted being with him, trusting him. In the end though, he truly had tried to make up for it. But she had been so hurt, so focused on regaining all that she had lost, that she never gave him the chance to try and when Beth had been born; their only connection with one another disappeared when Shelby took her home.

Quinn had kept tabs on him though; she knows he's still living in Lima. He had bought over Burt Hummel's repair shop, opting to keep the name and doing so well that he had two other branches in western Ohio. He had a flair for fixing up cars and detailing them and surprisingly he had kept in touch with Kurt who had told Mercedes about it all. She had wanted to write or call but never felt the impetus, always stopping because she did not know what to say. "What about your dad?"

Quinn can see the blend of her and Puck in Beth's features and she feels the hurt slowly recede knowing that her daughter grew up without them but she was still loved nonetheless.

"Did he not want me either?" The question hangs between them, the implication being that both she and Puck had abandoned Beth, not wanting her, not loving her enough. It was as far from the truth as possible but also something so difficult and personal to explain. "Mom says I'm high maintenance." The young girl swallows audibly as she looks at the woman sitting in front of her, trying to smile through her words.

"He was the one who named you. He wanted to be there when you were born even if it was only for a short time" Quinn remembers the serenade, they way Puck had looked at her, his eyes filled with promise as he pledged to be there for her and wanting to meet Beth. "We were so young, stupid and reckless but we never regretted you. I never regretted having you." It's the truth and she wants Beth to believe it.

"The second I held you, I wanted so much for you. I wanted you to be happy, to grow up knowing that you were loved and I was afraid that I couldn't do that, that I was not ready to look after you. It was the hardest…it was the hardest decision I ever had to make. Not a day goes by that I don't think about it, not regretting it but mourning over this feeling of loss, of not being there for you." She's crying, tears rolling down her face and she sees her daughter swipe at her eyes.

"Are you happy?" It's a question she wants to ask for her peace of mind but also because she needs to know that she had done the right thing all those years ago. She sees her daughter think about the question, as she bites her lower lip between her teeth.

"Yes." Beth had not expected to meet her biological mother or to hear about her genealogy. Quinn Fabray was not who she expected. She was a surgeon, living in New York and she had loved her. She hadn't been abandoned or unwanted and for the short amount of time her biological parents had been there with her, she had been loved by them.

"So why are you trying to destroy it all, with the drinking and driving around?" Quinn had read the police report Shelby had been given. She had gone ashen at the pictures included, knowing that Beth had been extremely lucky to have escaped just with a concussion and a few broken ribs. "Shelby loves you and wants the best for you. She wanted you with all her heart."

Quinn thinks about Rachel and how Shelby had missed her chance with her and knows she cannot afford to do the same. "I'm here if you need me but your mom loves you and you will always be wanted. Always." She hugs her daughter, their tears finally mingling although the matching smiles they are wearing speak of promise.

#$#$#$

Rachel is surrounded by her friends and her dads, her room filled with laughter and love but her smile falters every time the door opens and someone different enters.

"Why did she have to leave?" Tina sits on the edge of the bed, needing to ask the question as she sees Rachel's face fall for the third time when the nurse entered the room. She wants to protect her friend but she can also recognize that Rachel was happier when Quinn was around. It was not an outright tell but she smiled more and it showed.

She can choose to ignore the question or pretend she does not know who she is talking about but Rachel knows how tenacious Tina can be. "She needed to be somewhere else. She made a promise." Rachel looks at her two dads, their arms around each other and wonders if she really has found someone she can lean on. It's not a completely out of left field question. She's just not sure if Quinn wants to be that person for her.

"Is she coming back?" Tina sees Rachel's pensive look and knows that the diva is thinking things over in her head, trying to sort everything out. "So what song is going through your mind right now?" She knows her so well, understanding that she's always been able to express herself better through song, allowing the lyrics to convey all her sentiments.

All my bags are packed and I'm ready to go

I'm standin here outside your door

I hate to wake you up to say goodbye

But the dawn is breakin its early morn

The taxi's waitin he's blowin his horn

Already I'm so lonesome I could die

So kiss me and smile for me

Tell me that you'll wait for me

Hold me like you'll never let me go

Cause I'm leavin on a jet plane

Don't know if I'll be back again

Oh babe I hate to go

She whispers the first few words really, not singing them because she's afraid that she will never sound the same. She doesn't yet have the courage to try. It's Tina who continues with the song, until the room is silent and Rachel pulls her into a hug, when she ends.

#$#$#$

She wants to fly back to New York, back to her life, back to Rachel if she were being completely honest with herself. However, she also knows that she needs to do this for herself as much as for Beth.

"Well as I live and breathe, Quinn Fabray…..What brings a big city doctor like yourself back to the boondocks?" Puck's drawl hasn't changed and neither has his signature look, his ever present Mohawk peeking from underneath the baseball cap he's wearing. She shouldn't have been surprised that he had kept tabs on her like she had on him. Kurt and Mercedes loved to gossip and it was only right that there remained some amorphous tie between them considering they shared a daughter.

"Hello, Noah." She smiles as she walks towards him, unsure of his reaction but emboldened by the fact that he hasn't asked her to leave. "It's been a long time." She sees his smirk and understands that he blames that solely on her.

"I've always been here; it's you who haven't come back." Puck drinks her in, the curve of her neck and her hazel eyes. He could get lost in them, if he wasn't careful. He turns to tidy his workbench, giving himself something to do besides starring at Quinn Fabray.

"Mercedes says you're doing well, three stores and you're engaged to a Grade School teacher?" She sees his shoulders tense and knows that she does not have a right to ask about his life. "I'm happy for you, for what it's worth, I think you deserve it." He turns to look at her, his jaw set and it reminds her so much of their past that she curls her hand around her stomach surprised not to feel a bump there.

"What do you want, Quinn?" His voice is not surly but he needs to know why she's here. He had truly loved her once, only realizing it after the fact. She had left by then, gone to Harvard without looking back without even telling him goodbye. He'll always love her although he's not in love with her and he's glad to finally put that to rest. "Why are you here?" His voice is softer this time.

She's speechless, unsure of what she needs to tell him, what she has to say but she knows that she should start with an apology. "I'm so sorry." It's all encompassing for him. She's sorry she left, sorry for not loving him then and sorry for coming back now and definitely sorry for her next words." I've met Beth." She can see the surprise and pain in his features.

"She's beautiful and she's smart. She has your eyes." Quinn walks towards him, pulling him into a hug. "We did good, giving her up. She's happy." It's not a lie any longer and she needs him to know that.

"I wanted to tell you. And I wanted to know that you're happy too."She pulls back, never expecting to cry so much in one day but it felt cathartic. She had been brought up to believe that she had to hold it all in, to never show her emotions because they made her weak but everything that happened in the last twenty four hours just made her stronger, more resilient. In fact, ever since she met Rachel, she felt more alive, stronger.

His smile could always light up a room and he was unstoppable when he coupled it with his swagger. Puck struts towards the back of his workshop and pulls out two beers from the small fridge in the back, offering one to her. "Yeah, I'm freaking joyful." He means it though as he continues to smile at her, feeling content for the first time in a long while.

#$#$#$

They're both kind of drunk and Quinn had already called for a cab to take her to the airport. But it had been worth it to reminisce, talking about the good times and bad, catching up on local gossip and on Mike and Matt and the rest. Puck had brought up her parents, having seen them about town but she turned away, asking him to tell her about Finn's job coaching college football instead. It's enough that she sends money to her mother but she's never been able to visit or talk to them, knowing that they'll never fully accept her or the changes in her life.

"So Dr. Fabray, now that I've caught you up on all the goings on in Lima, what about you?" Puck leans against her, their shoulders touching.

"What about me?" She feels freer than she felt in a long time; her inhibitions and fears slipping away.

"I told you about Maggie. So it's your turn to spill, anyone special in your life?" He feels her stiffen a bit and knows that she's thinking of someone. He's happy for her too even if she was still as uptight as she had been back in High School. "Who is it and do I have to threaten him to look out for you and treat you right?" He turns to see an enigmatic smile gracing her face as his eyebrows rise at her words.

"No, I don't think you need to threaten ..her." She blames it on the alcohol and dredging up her past but knows that it's more than that. She needs to admit that she has deep feelings for Rachel and although she's pretty sure Rachel only considers her a friend, she does not want to just hide them away either. Reconciling her religious past with this new uncertain future was going to be difficult but this felt right. It was terrifying and daunting but deep down, it didn't feel wrong or bad. "It's not even a start of anything and she's not really going to reciprocate but it's nice to think of someone that way."

He never ever expected to hear those words coming out of Quinn's mouth but again, he never expected her to come back and apologize to him either. "If she doesn't recognize what a catch you are, then I do believe I should have a word or two with her." He cracks his knuckles for added effect, sending her into a fit of giggles.

She can't remember the last time she laughed and it truly felt wonderful. "I'll tell her when I see her." She bends to kiss him on the cheek when she sees the cab pull up. "Thanks, Noah."

"Don't wait another fifteen years to come back."

End Part 13

So, 13 chapters down, 4 more to go. The Song title for the next update is "Tonight".