So it's been two years… Sheesh.. I just want to apologize. I moved across the country two summers ago and I guess I got kind of distracted. But, thankfully, I found my way back here, and I figured, especially now that this wonderful show sadly is no more, that I would continue this. Don't even know if anyone is going to read this anymore haha but I want to finish it. So here it goes! Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Please refer ALL previous chapters because, at this point in time, I cannot think of something clever to put here to say that I own nothing but the plot line to this. Thaaaanks.

He stood up, wiping his hands on the front of his jeans. "Hey Rach..el." He wasn't sure if using a nickname would hurt at this point in time, and it didn't help that his nerves were on hyper drive.

Rachel rolled her eyes slightly, holding back the smile that was threatening to come out as a result of Puck's fidgety figure. She had always found it hilarious when he, who prided himself on always coming off cool and collected, got nervous.

She knew smiling would completely ruin her plan of remaining cold and distant throughout this encounter, so she simply said a "Morning Noah" in a clipped voice and sat down.

He deflated a bit at her tone, but slid in across from her, ready to start the conversation that had been playing out in his mind for the past six years.

Tension hung thick in the air between them. She refused to meet his eyes at first, instead staring coldly at the table. She wasn't going to be the first to say anything, for she knew that as soon as she started speaking, she would never let him get his so-called "explanation" out, which was the whole reason she agreed to this stupid meeting in the first place. If he wanted to talk to her so badly, HE was going to have to be the one to begin.

His heart seemed to be beating at a million miles per second; he was a bit afraid that Rachel might be able to hear it. He knew he had to say something, but there seemed to be something huge caught in his throat that was causing him to choke. He needed to explain. This was the chance he had been praying for for so long, and there she was, the woman of his dreams, right in front of him, and he couldn't speak.

Idiot. He was such a mute idiot.

"TALK. Say something! Anything!" He was screaming at himself inside his head. It had been a solid 5 minutes and still nothing had been said.

Finally, he cleared his throat, which caused Rachel to jump slightly. She looked up at him for the first time since she had sat down, her glare causing him to falter once again. This time however, he swallowed his nervousness and spoke, knowing that it was now or never.

"I just want to start off by saying how, for one, I'm so beyond thankful that you agreed to meet with me." He paused slightly, trying to gauge her reaction. She simply nodded her head ever so slightly, her hard eyes not giving away a single one of her emotions, besides the obvious anger.

He kept going, deciding right there and then that bluntness was the only tactic he was going to use during the duration of this conversation.

"Secondly, I just… I just want to express how… I am so fucking sorry Rachel." The words began to tumble out of his mouth in a rushed and emotional fashion.

"Sorry is nowhere near enough, I know that, but I just need to get it out there before I start explaining things. I am so extremely sorry for everything. I'm sorry for leaving, for hurting you, for not explaining, for… for just absolutely everything. I know "everything" is a broad term, but if I tried listing out every single thing I was sorry for then we would be here a while, and I know you probably don't want to just sit here while I list all those things. But, I mean, if you do want me to go through that list I totally could. I could even just write it down for you to read later because then you wouldn't have to just sit there and listen to all…"

Rachel held up her hand, which caused Puck to stutter to a halt.

She cleared her throat a bit before uttering out a cold "Just continue Puckerman. I'm giving you thirty minutes. Use it wisely."

He recoiled a bit, but quickly composed himself and began again.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. So, I guess I should start with my explanation. Okay. Okay…" He trailed off, his whole speech that he had down to a science flying out the window. He glanced around the shop quickly, sorting through what he wanted to say. When he looked back at Rachel, he searched her face quickly. Always the talented actress, she had all her features trained expertly to give away nothing, but as he looked closer into her eyes, he could see the slight waver in them, the tiny break in her façade, which gave him the push he needed to put everything out on the table.

"I left you. I left my son. I understand how completely horrible you must think I am, and I totally agree with you in that. What I did was stupid, reckless, juvenile, all of that, and I understand how you should just slap me or something, scream, and refuse to ever see me again…Refuse to let me see my son ever again,"

"You're damn right. On all of that." Rachel ground out. "Honestly, I would really appreciate it if you didn't refer to him as "your" son either, seeing how you only just saw him for the first time yesterday." Her eyes held a rage that scared the living shit out of Puck, but he gulped down his fear and nodded.

"Okay. How about our son? Is that better?"

She turned her head slightly, looking over towards the counter. "Fine." Just as Puck was about to begin again, she whipped her head back towards him. "I am going to allow you to finish, but just know, it is taking all the self-control I possess not rip your head off, figuratively and literally, right now. The only thing I want to hear out of your mouth is why in the hell you abandoned me and MY son six years ago. I do not give a fuck about anything else. Do I make myself clear?" At her raised eyebrow, Puck simply nodded. She nodded back, and turned her gaze again to the counter.

He took another pause, then began to retell the night that had been haunting his nightmares for the past six years.

"Six years ago, after graduation, when I went back to my house before the party, something happened… Well, more like someone happened but I mean… It just… It changed everything. It made me question things… I was stupid and I let it influence me. Filled my mind with all these disillusioned thoughts. I really thought that I was doing what was best…"

Rachel scoffed loudly, her resolve slipping as she spoke, still keeping her icy gaze on the counter. "What was best? Yeah, abandoning your pregnant girlfriend. Leaving her to raise a baby on her own. That was clearly the best option. The best option for you that is. A pathetic, immature, careless son of a…"

"My dad came back"

Rachel's head whipped around, her eyes widening as her gaze meet Puck's frazzled one, the rest of her words lost on her lips. She stared at him, openly questioning, for a few seconds before mumbling a quiet "What?"

"He came back. He was at my house when I came home. He had heard about you, about us, and he just started saying all this shit about how I was going to turn out just like him, how we would be like him and Ma. How I wouldn't be able to provide and we would wither away into this horrible couple who hated each other and how my kid would grow up in this loveless, desperate life. He kept saying how I would fail you, no matter how hard I tried, no matter how much I loved you and our kid. You didn't deserve that, and our kid damn well didn't either."

He took her stunned silence as a good sign, so he quickly continued. "So, I figured that there was only one way I could save you from the clusterfuck that was that horrible life; save you from having to be with someone like my dad. I figured that if I went out and prepared a good life for us, made myself into a good, successful man who could provide, that I could give both of you the life you deserved. I knew you would have never let me go off and do that without you, so I thought that the only way was to leave without telling you. After the first year, I realized how bad a plan it was, but I figured that I had already started it, so I finished it. I went to college, got a degree, and started a business. I made a name for myself so that I could give you and our son the life that both of you truly deserved. Rachel, I know how insane this sounds, and how horribly I fucked everything up, but I really did try to do what I thought was best for the both of you. I didn't want to be my father."

He took a big gulp of air, feeling a weight being lifted off of him now that everything was out in the open with her. He studied her, noticing by her expression how she was working through everything he just said. She broke out of her confused trance quickly however, and when she did, the rage returned.

"I'm sorry. Let me get this straight. The reason you LEFT me and our son six years ago, and the reason you haven't returned until now, thereby earning you the appropriate title of "absentee father", was because you didn't want to be like your horrible, and also appropriately titled "absentee father". You left me then so that you wouldn't leave me later? So that you wouldn't cause me and our son distress? Yet, by leaving, without a word mind you, that is ALL you did? Do you grasp how screwed up this whole thing is? How bad you messed our lives up? How broken you left me? Not to mention how our son doesn't even know his real father? I had to work around that! Had to figure out a way to explain to a little boy why his real father wasn't around, especially when I had no freaking idea why to begin with! Now, you sit here, and have the audacity to think that I am just going to go along with your aforementioned plan because you did it all for "our" benefit? Are you kidding me?! You're so disillusioned. I can't even believe you. I don't even know what the hell I am supposed to say to you!"

She had to stop to take a breath, her nostrils flaring. She had practically snarled out the last few sentences. She rested her elbows on the table and rested her forehead on her hands as she steadied her breathing.

Even though he knew that this all was coming, it still sliced through him like a freshly sharpened blade. He understood how wrong he had been, but there was still a tiny part of him that clung to the hope that she would understand somehow. That they would work through this, whatever the cost. He would give anything to be with her again, get to know his son.

That hope was still there, resting just below the surface as he slowly began again. "You don't have to say anything to me. Take all the time you need, really. I just wanted you to know the truth. I know it's a longshot, I really do, but I'm back now. I'm here, I promise, and I would love to be a part of our son's life, of your life, in any way you'd let me. I just want to get to know him, to help you in any way I can."

Rachel lifted her head out of her hands, shaking her head, tears blurring her vision. The sight of her watery eyes hurt Puck more than any of her previous words during this encounter had. She just kept shaking her head, the tears freely falling now. "No. No, no, I can't… I can't do this. I need to go."

Puck's eyes grew wide, the hope in him shrinking faster and faster as he watched her pick up her purse and shakily stand. "Rachel, please, can we just talk about this. I know how hard this must be for you, but I really want to…

"NO!" Her booming voice carried through the shop, causing many other Lima Bean patrons to look in their direction. She glanced around, took in a shaky breath, and glanced back at their table. "No. I don't want to discuss anything with you. There isn't anything to discuss. You left, and even though you thought you were doing it for the right reasons, the fact still stands that you left me and you left Eli and I can't…"

"Eli?" Puck breathed out. "His name is Eli?"

Rachel continued to stare intently at the table, refusing to meet Puck's burning stare. "Yes. His name is Eli. As I was saying, nothing changes the fact that you left us for six years. We have made a life without you, and honestly, there is no room for you anymore. Not now, not ever. This ends here."

The sentence hung in the air like thick smoke, causing Puck to choke down the air as he breathed in. There was nothing he could say. He had explained himself, had told Rachel all he could to try to make her understand, and his worse fear had come true. She was done with him; she wasn't going to forgive him. He had lost his chance. He had lost everything.

She finally looked up him, tear tracks clearly visible on her cheeks. Her giant, expressive eyes, the ones that he had fallen in love with all those years ago, showed how much all of this had truly broken her, which made him unravel even more. "I need to go."

He nodded, all fight in him lost. Her eyes studied his for a fleeting moment, like she was trying to memorize him for the last time. She turned to go, but stopped short, turning her head and uttering a low "Goodbye Noah." Then, straightening her shoulders and holding her head high, she walked out of the Lima Bean, choking back a sob as soon as the glass door shut behind her.

He watched her go, saw her shoulders shake as she turned on the sidewalk outside and walked out of his sight. He closed his eyes, letting one tear escape before lowering his head into his hands.

Okay! I know it was kind of long, but I really just wanted to get this whole scene done. This is NOT the end, I promise :) &, like I said before, I am going to finish this story, and that means I will be updating a lot more frequently. My plan and goal is to be close to the end, or done by the time I go to college at the end of August, so :)

Thanks again for reading and coming back after all this time! Review if you'd like! (It would literally make my whole week if you did)

3, D