A/N: Here we are with chapter 3!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Glee :(

He felt her stiffen for several seconds as his hands course through her hair mindlessly. Puck backed away a little to get a better look at her face. As he reads her expression, he can't help feeling a little flustered. As simple as she looked right then, her face bare of the needless pounds of makeup she put on for school every day, he can't stop himself from staring. There's nothing extreme about her features. They're simple, along with everything else about her. For the first time, he's captivated. For the first time, Puck finds himself marveling at simple perfection.

Puck shakes his head discreetly, hoping that somehow she didn't see him looking at her. For some reason, he now finds the floor pattern oddly fascinating. She offers him a small smile. An indication that she's noticed him watching her. For a minute, he fights the urge to kick himself, feeling like an idiot for just standing there. Soon after, he puts an end to the idea, realizing that it doesn't really matter now. Quinn has stared at him a number of times. That was the thing about the two of them. As much as they tried to avoid it, there was no stopping the wandering eyes. Even though they both understood the other was taken by someone else, something always pulled them back.

"Puck?" she whispered, a smile in her tone. He blinked several times. Finally brave enough to look at her, fighting the blush as it made its way to his cheeks, he met her gaze. He cleared his throat, feet shuffling a little. "You okay? You've had a glazed over look in your eyes for the last three minutes. And you're staring at me. Do I have something n my face?" Completely free of his trance, he shook his head. "You sure you're okay? You checked out there for a while," she laughed.

"You're perfect," he says to himself. Quinn raised a brow in curiosity. Now Puck really wanted to kick himself. It took him a minute to realize that he'd said that out loud. Since he's already made his confession, he watches her face for yet another reaction. This time, he's careful not to get lost. It's harder than he realizes. Maybe, if I just don't look at her he thinks. Immediately, he finds himself turning his back toward her and breaths a heavy sigh. Watching the lined up cots, filed with sleeping newborns, doesn't last. Almost as soon as he's turned himself around, Puck feels Quinn poke his lower back playfully. He gives a small jump in surprise, forced to turn and glare at her.

"I'm not," she says, in response to his earlier compliment. "Thank you though, for saying as much. I really don't feel attractive at all, right now." He rolled his eyes at her.

"You just gave birth, Quinn." He watches her face fall as she's once again reminded of where they are and why. As soon as he says that and takes in the look on her face, he races for some kind of recovery. He finds none. Instead, he settled his hand on her shoulder. "Hey," he whispers, taking her chin in his free hand, so she's forced to look at him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I'm the one who got us here."

"Did you love me that night?" she asked. Puck just looked at her, fighting the sigh he finds is about ready to leave his mouth.

"I thought we already went over this," he said. She nods, but waits for his answer. "The truth?" She gives him a second nod. "The truth is that I had no idea what I was feeling that night. I don't even know exactly what I'm feeling right now. But I felt something. I felt it long after the sex. I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach, every time I saw you with Finn."

"You were jealous," she clarified, the comment coming out as more of a statement.

"Is that what that is?" She answered with another nod, flattered by his admission. There were things about Puck that she was slowly learning. Little facts, that she found herself enjoying more and more. She'd come to the realization that she enjoyed them as much because they came from an entirely new side of Puck. "Remember that day in Glee, when Schue made us sing songs that really meant something to us?"

"The day you screwed up all my Gaga make up?" she smiled.

"Yeah. I personally don't get why she puts so much of that shit on her face. I mean, some of it's hot but other times it's just a little much, you know?"

"You were saying?" she prompted.

"Anyway," he continued. "I wanted to sway you. I was hoping that if you saw how committed I was, how sincere and stuff, that you'd change your mind. It was stupid, I know. You had your mind made up and there was no changing it."

"You're wrong," she whispered. "Hearing you sing that day…I was a little thrown, to be honest. I never thought that Noah Puckerman could be so…"

"Soft?" he supplied.

"Yeah. I was so sure I knew what I wanted. You made me think it over again. I ended up thinking it over for a long time."

"How come this is the first time I hear that?" he asked. Quinn just shook her head, not quite sure how to continue.

"I…I didn't want you to get your hopes up, in case I changed my mind again," she admitted. "You make me think, Puck. You make me second guess myself. That's a change for me. Usually, I'm all about solid answers. I'm always sure that what I want is what I want and that's it. I've kind of been conditioned to do that. My parents were all about determination and never backing down. Once I decided something, I had to stick to it." He scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"They made decisions for you."

"Not true," she defended. "They only wanted what was best for me."

"Oh so I guess giving you a half hour before they kicked you to the curb, was 'best for you'?" She sent him an icy glare in response, hand coming up in preparation to smack him. Realizing what he'd just said, his hand shot up to stop her, eyeing her apologetically. "I shouldn't have said that," he mumbled. "What I mean is that, you're always in your parents' shadow or something. I could tell that, after a while, you didn't like being a Cheerio anymore."

"Coach Sylvester's a bitch. After being yelled at for two to three hours a day, I don't exactly feel too happy."

"That's just it, Quinn. You're not happy waving around a couple of pompoms. When somebody really enjoys what they're doing, it doesn't matter how often they get yelled at. They take it because they know that it will help them do better. You didn't want it. You only did it because your mom told you it was a good idea."

"I…I wanted them to be proud of me," she admitted. "After my sister left, it was almost like they felt they were stuck with me. I guess I wanted to prove to them that I could do something to make them see that I wasn't some kind of disappointment. Then, we happened, and any shade of 'I'm proud of you' disappeared. The fact that my mother just stood there while he yelled at me…The fact that he wouldn't even touch me said all that needed to be said. They didn't want me anymore. I let them down…"

"No," he said firmly. "They let you down. They abandoned you when you needed them the most. A real parent forgives their kid. No matter how badly they screw up." Beth let out a small cry, stopping any continuation of the current conversation. Panic took over, her fear that she's done anything wrong, indicated by her body going completely stiff. The attending nurse came over with a gentle smile on her face. Quinn quickly handed her over; clueless as to how she's supposed to stop the crying.

"Looks like somebody's due for a bottle," she says. Immediately, Quinn can feel herself relax. Puck's hand rubbing small circles in her shoulder melts the tension as she takes a deep breath. The nurse, whose name she finally learned is Vanessa, as indicated by her name tag, took a small bottle to her daughter's lips and nodded in Puck's direction. "Noah, would you like to…?" Over the course of the day, he'd done this several times already. Feeding time left his mind at ease. Something he could tell Quinn needed.

"Nah, I've done it a few times already. Maybe Quinn should try," he suggests. He saw her eyes shift awkwardly but offered her a nod of confidence. Silently, she takes the small bundle that is her daughter, back from the woman. She handles Beth awkwardly for a minute as she tries to remember how exactly she's supposed to hold her. Like a football she recalls, mentally rolling her eyes when she remembers who had said it.

"There you go," Vanessa smiles. "Now, just take the bottle and hold it to her mouth. Beth will take it from there." Quinn does as she's instructed and watches her small mouth take hold of the offering. Only seconds in, she heared her breathing speed up. "Nice and slow," she hears Vanessa say. Her hand froze momentarily as she adjusted the angle. Beth takes to it, staring at her mother intently. Quinn can't help the smile that crosses her face as she returns her gaze. "Just let her eat until she's full."

"Thank you," she said politely.

"It's going to feel awkward at first. Like everything else, practice will make things run a little smoother." Quinn misses the last part of the conversation becoming once again absorbed. After a few minutes the sucking stopped, Beth's eyes closing slowly. Setting the unfinished bottle next to her, she brushes her hand over her daughter's closing eyes.

"You done?" she whispers. The only indication she gets is a subconscious grasp of her finger. She gives a small gasp as the smile widens on her face.

"Pretty cool, huh?" she heard Puck say. Noticing for the first time since ten minutes earlier, that he's in the room with her, her eyes meet his. She can only nod, not sure how to even explain the emotions running through her. The small act of letting Beth take her finger has set off a number of emotions all at once. That reaction alone allows her to fully understand why Puck was so adamant. He'd spent the entire day, experiencing what she'd just begun to feel.

"Yeah…" she says softly. Quinn's fingers weaved through Beth's small head of hair, her hand grazing her cheek. Puck came in a little closer to her, lightly scratching her belly affectionately. Once again, she opens her eyes, taking in her father's face as she continues to fight sleep.

"Close your eyes, baby girl," he whispered, dropping a light kiss on her temple. Seeing this tender side to such a highly acclaimed badass, Quinn wanted to scream. How could she have ever considered denying any of this? How could she have thought to strip this away from him? Quinn Fabray was selfish. She knew as much by her constant one track mind. When she wanted something badly enough, her opinion shined brighter than any other.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, tears pooling in her eyes. Puck looked up at her, a callused hand meeting the tears before they could make it very far down her face. "How could I have been so stupid? So selfish?" she asked with a slight tremble to her lip.

"You weren't being selfish," he promised her. "If anything, it was me who was being selfish. Logic was put on the back burner when I realized that I was actually going to be a father. The 'I'm not a deadbeat' argument clouded common sense. We're teenagers, Quinn. We know nothing about raising a baby. No new parents have any idea what they're doing. We learn as we go," he said softly.

"What if we screw up?" she whispered. "Maybe...Maybe giving her to real parents will be better for her," she decided, doubting herself for the hundredth time.

"Quinn, we're in a hospital nursery and you're sitting there with a baby who looks just like you, right there in your arms. Face it, Fabray. We're parents. Parents who are gonna screw up every once and a while. Parents who love her enough to try their hardest to make sure she grows up happy and cared for."

"I just…I don't know. I have this monster fear that I'm gonna end up being like my mom and she's going to end up hating me just as much as I hate my mother."

"You're nothing like your mother, Quinn. We'll be fine," he smiled.

"Promise?" she whispered.

"I can't promise it won't be a little bumpy but I can tell you that we'll make it out okay." Puck found himself once again playing with a lock of her hair. Feeling a light tug she remembered that she hadn't yet showered properly. She rose to her feet, not really thinking as her arm wrapped around his torso. For a minute, Puck wasn't quite sure how to react. After a minute his arms encircled both of them and she was finally able to take in his aftershave. She smiled, letting her hand wander up his spine a little.

"I need a shower," she said. Hearing this, his nose wrinkled mockingly.

"I'd say so," he joked. Quinn looked up at him, giving him a light shove. Stepping around him,, she settles a sleeping Beth in her cot, gently tightening the blanket around her. Coming up behind her he brushes his fingers through the little hair she has on her head.

"Would you like the night to yourselves?" Vanessa asked. "Or would you like her in the room with you?"

"Isn't she supposed to stay here," Puck asked. Vanessa laughed with a shake of her head. "You have the option to do that but after a day or so, you're welcome to keep her in your room." He looks at Quinn for the answer, knowing that right now, as she often did, she'd make the call.

"I need sleep," she sighed. He nodded, subconsciously bringing her to hm. "We'll come in tomorrow morning," she said.

"That's why we're here," she smiled. "It's a good idea for parents to get all the rest they need because once they're home by themselves, the idea of sleep is pretty much nonexistent," she laughed.

"We'll be back in the morning," she whispers to a sleeping Beth as she takes one brush of her cheek. Making their way out to the hall, Puck realizes he's got a stronger hold on her. He's a little surprised she doesn't fight him off, but smiles nonetheless. As soon as they reach the doorway, he feels her blanch. Looking over at her, he can finally see what's set her off. Almost instantly, he feels his fist contracting.

"Quinnie," he hears the all too familiar voice of her mother call out to her.

"What do you want?" Quinn asked flatly. As she does so, she gives Puck a light elbow in the side, telling him to stop. He does. But not before glaring at Mrs. Fabray.

"I want you to home, Quinnie—"

"Stop," she demands. "You have no place to use that name with me anymore." She can see her mother's pained expression and feels a little bit of satisfaction.

"Quinn," she corrects, "I want you to come home. I've missed you," she whispers.

"You haven't missed me," she shot back. "You wanted me gone just as much as he did."

"That's not true, Quinn I—"

"You just stood there while he kicked me out of my own house!" she shouted.

"Now, you know there's no arguing with your father—" As much as he knows he shouldn't, Puck can't help but offer his two cents. By the end of this, it might come out to about two dollars.

"He's no father, Mrs. Fabray." Quinn elbows him much harder this time but he ignores her. "What kind of father kicks his daughter out of her own home? What kind of father calls her a disgrace when she's made a mistake?"

"I'm sorry but, who are you?" she asked, cutting his speech short.

"The name's Puck," he offers gruffly.

"And how do you know my daughter?" He was tempted to tell her that he was the guy who was lucky enough to take her daughter's innocence and introduce her to a six pack of alcohol, but he stopped himself.

"He's Beth's father," Quinn supplied. Judy's eyes widen when she realizes that the child has a name.

"You…you named her?" she asked carefully.

"Yes Mom," she sighed with a roll of her eyes. "That's what most parents do when they have a baby." Judy's lips are pursed, a familiar look of disappointment crossing her face.

"I'm so disappointed in you Quinnie," she sighed. "I would have at least thought that after you've made such a mess of yourself, you'd at least be smart enough to give her away."

"Why the hell would I give away my daughter?" she asked angrily.

"Now watch your tongue," she warned.

"I don't have to watch anything! You lost any kind of authority you had over me, the minute you closed the door!"

"You have a future, Quinn Fabray! A future I would hate to see go up in smoke because you've offered the world a child."

"A future in what, cheer?" she scoffed.

"Well, yes. Cheer is such a wonderful opportunity for you. It opens so many doors." Quinn cold tell, without looking, that Puck was rolling his eyes. "You're going to get into so many wonderful schools. Schools that will give you a fantastic career long before you even consider having children."

"Well, I'm sorry to break it to you, Mom but I threw out the 'How to Live the Trophy Wife Life' guide. I have a baby. A baby that I intend on keeping."

"It's not fair that you've done this to yourself," she sighed. "Why couldn't you have been like normal kids your age?"

"Oh believe me, she is," Puck mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Judy asked angrily.

"Mrs. Fabray, if you haven't noticed, most kids these days are rebelling with drugs and alcohol, and having sex in high school. Your idea of a normal teenager's a little bit different than ours."

"Are you doing this to get back at me?" she asked with a sigh. "Is this some kind of payback for the way we treated you, which may I remind you, wasn't entirely unfair."

"You gotta be fuckin' kidding me right now," Puck mumbled. "Judy. May I call you Judy? The way you treated Quinn is in no way fair. You sent her packing when she needed you the most. What kind of parents, do that to their kid?"

"She's not a child anymore, Puck. If she's old enough to be making adult decisions then it's only right that she be treated as such."

"Oh, for the love of God," Quinn mumbled. "I needed you! I needed you and you just let him shut the door in my face! What's even more disgusting is the fact that you knew long before Finn even said anything! You knew and you never even bothered to try and help me!" She could see the world around her blurring as tears clouded her vision. Quinn could feel Puck tightening his hold on her and felt herself relax a little. "So, do me a favor and quit acting like you give a shit about me! You're right. I am an adult now. I'm old enough to make decisions for myself. Not just myself but for my daughter as well. I've decided that I'm going to be the one to raise her and there isn't a damn thing you can do to stop me!"

"You don't know the first thing about being a mother!" Judy shot back.

"Oh and I'm sure you were a fuckin' know-it-all when you had your first baby, huh?"

"I did not. The difference between you and I is that I was mature enough to make such a change in my life. You're still in high school! How are you going to be able to afford continuing your education and taking care of a baby?"

"We'll make do," she said.

"Well, I sure hope so, because I'm not letting you drop out to dote over your tragic mistake," she seethed. Before she could stop herself, she felt the heat of her mother's cheek against her palm, satisfied when she saw the print of her hand.

"Beth is not and will never be a mistake! If anything, she's taught me a hell of a lot more than you ever did."

"How is that even possible? She wasn't even born until earlier today, which I only found out from the hospital staff when they called me to tell me that this is where you were."

"If you were even around long enough, you would have heard me tell you that Sylvester kicked me off the team when she found out I was pregnant. Strangely enough, I'm actually grateful. I wasn't the one who liked cheering, Mom. You did. I figured that, doing something that you loved would somehow make you proud of me or something. What a mistake that was. I let myself be your legacy so you could continue your dream through me. Well, you know what? If you're not even enough of a mother to support me, I'm done living for you. I'm gonna start living a life for me. A life that will include my daughter!"

"And where do you intoned to live while you do all of this?" she scoffed.

"Oh so now you care that there's a roof over my head. I'll be living where I've been living for the last few months."

"She'll be living with me," Puck clarified.

"Oh, I can't believe this," Judy sighed. "Why in the world would you be living with your boyfriend? Isn't it something similar to that, which got you into this in the first place?" Both Quinn and Puck smiled a little at hearing her label them. They hadn't even thought of it that way yet, though it took them a second to realize that maybe now, that's kind of what they were.

"Puck has been an amazing support to me, Mom. Not only that but he's my daughter's father. That's really all the sense you need."

"May I ask how your mother feels about this?" she asked, directing her question at Puck.

"She wasn't too happy about the fact that I was having a baby—"

"I honestly don't see what kind of mother would."

"She won't let Quinn have her bacon, seeing as we're Jewish, but other than that, the living arrangements are working out just fine."

"I cannot believe that you're mother's actually supporting this decision."

"She's says that so long as I find a way to bring in sufficient income, and we can handle the majority of the responsibility ourselves, then she'd be fine with having Quinn and Beth stay with us."

"And what exactly is providing this 'sufficient income'?"

"Mom, this isn't a game of 20 questions," Quinn sighed. "The fact is that we're going to do this. Don't go pretending to care at the last minute."

"I'd really like you to come home, Qunnie," she sighed.

"I am going home," she said. She could see Judy's face building a small smile of satisfaction. "I'm going home to the Puckermans," she clarified. Her mother scowled, stomping her heeled toe, angrily. "Oh look who's the child now,' she laughed. "Until you can prove to me that you can grow up a little, prove to me that you give a damn, we won't be communicating. Don't try calling me, coming to see me, nothing. You gave yourself that privilege when you let me walk away."

"You have no idea how big an error in judgment you're making," she said

"Oh I don't see it as an error," Quinn smiled. "I personally see it as a way of proving to the world that I am nothing like you."

"How do you figure that?" she smirked.

"Use a little common sense, Mom. Why am I living with Puck?"

"Your father sent you away," she said.

"Oh, don't go sugarcoating it! He kicked me out. Plain and simple. You both kicked me out without a second thought! You turned your backs on me. Something that I swear I will never be doing to my own daughter. It doesn't matter what she ends up doing, how badly she messes up. I'm going to be there to offer her the love and support that I never got."

"We loved and supported you plenty!" Judy defended.

"Not when it counted," she pointed out.

"You have no idea what you're doing," she sighed.

"Newsflash, Mom. New parents haven't got a clue. But they learn."

"When your father hears about this…."

"Just tell him the truth. I'm outta your hair. Tell him he can stop seeing me as such a disappointment in your lives. Tell him he lost me, just like he wished he had by the time I was in middle school!" Quinn was shaking with anger now, tears rolling down her reddened face. Puck came up behind her, offering her support as he felt her go slack in his arms. Taking a second to glare at Quinn's mother, he lifted her onto the bed, bringing the thin white sheet around her. Folding a piece of hair behind her ear, he pulled away, directing his attention to Judy.

"I'm gonna have to ask you to leave," he said seriously. She sighed, standing for a second at her daughter's bedside.

"I love you, Quinnie," she whispered, brushing her discolored cheek gently. You sure got a funny way of showin' it he thought.

"I'll walk you out," Puck offered. She nodded as he gently directed her toward the exit. "Thanks for droppin' by," he said. "It was a real pleasure." As he said the second part, he resisted (with a ton of will power) to roll his eyes. When he was finally able to close the door behind her, Puck heard Quinn stir behind him. In three strides he was at her side, massaging her clammy hand.

"Puck," she mumbled, opening her eyes again.

"Yeah?"

"I've changed my mind." Puck felt himself go into a round of panic before she slowly gripped his hand and smiled. "Not about that," she confirms. He felt himself let out a breath. "Can you ask them to bring Beth in here?"

"Sure," he smiles, kissing her temple.

"Thank you," she whispers as he walks out to the nursery.

"You're welcome," is the last thing she hears before Quinn allows much needed sleep to take her.

A/N: Let me know how this went, please! Reviews are much appreciated. :)