The thought of this story came to mind while watching the episode Hold On to Sixteen, from Season 3.

Basic Overview: What if Quinn decided to turn Shelby and Puck in after all?

A/U: Quinn never told Rachel about Puck and Shelby, therefore, was never encouraged not to tell, and for the sake of carrying the story along, I changed the way that Puck told Quinn about the affair.

I hope you like it! Here's chapter one.

Tell me what you think!

I don't own Glee, sadly.

~~hayleynymphadora

Chapter 1: Not Just A Pool Client

(Quinn POV)-

"I'm sleeping with Shelby." he admits it with such a casual shrug, I have half a mind to slap him.

"You're WHAT?" I demand, my arms crossed over my chest impatiently.

Puck ruffles his mohawk, mindlessly. "I think i'm in love with her."

"You think you're in love with any girl that will give you the time of day." I protest.

"Shelby's a woman, not a girl," he points out.

"Which is why this is so wrong!"

Does he actually believe that here and now is the time to discuss this? School just got out, and everybody's rushing past us, anxious to get home and get on with their lives. Well, the ones that have lives. Meanwhile, we stand in the middle of this crowded hallway. I'm awestruck with disgust, and he's admitting his unrequited love for our substitute teacher, that also happens to be the adoptive mother of our biological daughter. She's Rachel's birth mother, for goodness sake. Think about if Puck and Shelby ever got married! (Not that I want to, because that's gross,) but then he'd be like Rachel Berry's step father! Which would be even MORE awkward, because Puck and Rachel have dated a few times over the past couple of years...

"This is different. I think she loves me too," Puck says.

"I think she's lonely, confused, and vulnerable." I dead pan. "I told you to be NICE to her, not treat her like one of your pool clients."

Puck has a pool cleaning business (which he really needs to ditch so he can get a better job. He has to have a steady income or else they're not going to give us Beth back. It's expensive to raise a baby girl,) and if you ask me, he probably spends a little more time in the cougars' beds than outside cleaning their pools. He's such a man whore. Why do I love him? I don't know. But he'll be a great dad to Beth, so I need him.

"My pool clients don't have my kid." he pauses. "That I know of..." he adds. "Look, you just, can't tell anyone, okay? Promise?"

"If you don't want me to say anything, why did you tell me?" I question.

He shrugs. "I didn't want you be in the dark about it. I wanted to be honest with you, because I trust you. You deserve more than that, babe."

I roll my eyes. "Go call Shelby your babe" I spew, spinning on the spot and rushing towards my locker. I can't be around Puck right now, and need to get as far away from him as possible. Thank God it's the end of the day.

Sectionals are tomorrow and I should probably get some rest before I turn Shelby in. I never told Puck that I wouldn't tell, and it's stupid of him to trust me with something like this. Especially considering he knows how much I despise Shelby Corcoran. I'll go to Principal Figgins before the performance, that way the Trouble Tones will be forced to forfeit and the New Directions will win, like we deserve. Because, let't face it, the Unitards don't stand a chance. Who are they trying to kid?

Besides, just think about this for a second: A teacher sleeping with her student- that will get her fired -sounds like an unfit mother to me. Then I can get my daughter back, and Puck and I can start the family that was originally ours together. It's not like he's going to get in trouble. It's sexual harassment. I'll just insist that she raped him.

In any case, I will get Beth back, because Beth is my daughter. And Shelby can pretend all she wants, but my daughter will never belong to her.

(Shelby POV)-

Why won't Beth stop crying?!

"Shh, shh, baby, it's okay," I rock her, try to soothe her. Nothing.

Puck is a lot better at this.

No, Shelby, you're ending it with Puck. Not that there's much to end. You don't need him. Stop thinking about him.

Beth, honey, please stop crying.

A knock at the door tells me that Puck is here to save the day. How freaking convenient. I hold Beth in one arm and let Puck in with the other. He kisses my cheek.

"Hey Shelby," he seems so comfortable with this. Doesn't he see how wrong this is? His excuse is that he's eighteen, and a legal adult.

Eighteen or not, he's still too young for me. That many years is just too big of a gap. I'm thirty six years old, and his teacher. If people find out, I'll lose my job, and then I won'd be able to provide for Beth. This quick move from New York has been hard on the two of us. I'm still unpacking things and trying to re-adjust to live and paychecks in Lima. So Puck and I just can't continue. I have to do it, and if not for me, then I'll do it for Beth, because Puck being over so much without Quinn HAS to be confusing to the poor girl. It's confusing for ME.

"Hey Beth!" but there's that dopey adorable smile that I love so much. He takes his daughter out of my arms and she stops crying almost immediately. I flop down on the couch in defeat. "Don't worry about it, beautiful," Puck tells me. "She loves you. She probably just missed her daddy."

I nod and reply nothing. What is there to say? I can't kick him out now, he JUST got Beth to stop crying, and it'll crush her. I'll have to wait until she's asleep.

Puck hands her off to me, kissing her forehead. The second she's in my arms, she bursts into tears again. I give up. Puck laughs lightly, running a hand through his mohawk while heading towards the kitchen.

"I don't see what's so funny!" I say, exasperated. Puck shakes his head with a smile, pulling two glasses down from the cupboard and filling them with water.

"The look on your face is what made it funny." he tries to explain, handing me one of the water glasses.

I take the glass with my free hand, almost harshly. "I'm glad my disappointment amuses you." I mutter, bouncing a sobbing Beth on my hip.

"Here, let me take her," he says softly. He does so, and I let out an irritated breath. Beth's tears stop flowing almost immediately. "You're cute when you're mad." He adds aloud, seemingly to no one in particular.

I look at my adopted daughter and smile, slightly. "She is," I agree.

Puck stifles a laugh. "I was talking about you." he admits.

To hide the red flush in my cheeks, I turn away from him slightly, but I think he still noticed my blush. "Stop," I say softly.

He inches closer to me. "You're cute when you're modest, too." he adds, his face inches away from mine.

I dry swallow. "Please, Puck."

"And when you beg..." he pecks me on the lips. "...drives me wild."

Forcing myself to back away from him, I finish the glass of water, setting it down on the coffee table in front of me. We stand in silence for a moment, due to lack of something to say. After a while, he speaks.

"Thank you."

(Puck POV)-

She looks at me, clearly confused. Her gorgeous head cocked to one side in wonder. Her long brown hair flows down over her eyes, and she swiftly moves it behind her ear. I'm so distracted by the beauty of this woman, I almost don't hear her ask,

"For what?"

I shrug."Giving me a chance."

The smile she gives me seems genuine, but I have to remind myself that she's the best actress i've ever met (besides maybe Rachel Berry), and sometimes this relationship seems too good to be true. Kind of like it was with Quinn...before I got her pregnant. But this time is different. Way different. Shelby's probably not pregnant. I think.

"Of course, Noah. What kind of a person would I be if I kept a little girl from seeing her daddy?"

If someone, anyone ever calls me Noah, it'd better be Shelby or else brains will be busted. (Again, with the exception of Berry, because, let's face it, some things just aren't worth it).

"You know what would make you a better person?" I hint. I can tell she already knows what I'm getting at. "Quinn would really like-"

"Noah," she repeats my name, but this time her tone is warning. "She hasn't done anything to prove herself to me. As far as I've seen, i'm unimpressed."

"Quinn is willing to do anything to get to know Beth!" I protest.

"That's what worries me!" she exclaims. "She set my house up and called CPS! Why should I even trust her after that?"

"She only did it because you're keeping her from her daughter." I try to say, as calmly as I can.

"Which i'm doing because she's an unfit mother." she finalizes. Her silence afterwards tells me she's done discussing this right now.

Meanwhile, I rack my brains looking for another way to defend Quinn. She hasn't left me with much to go by.

"She's not in that group of sluts anymore. That's a good start, right?" there was my pathetic attempt.

"Skanks," Shelby corrects, shaking her head soberly. "And a bottle of bleach, a christian necklace, and a white dress doesn't change what's on the inside. She's being manipulative to get what she wants, and I don't trust her."

My mouth threatens to ask her if the other reason is because Quinn called her a cash whore, but I have a feeling that'd be pushing it. I shift closer to her and we sit down on the couch. She takes Beth and has her positioned to face her mother, playing with her hands.

"So am I," I joke. "I got Beth, and convinced you to sleep with me."

She turns to me, her eyes full of doubt. "Please, you're not that good of an actor." she pauses. "And that's not really what all of this is about...?" her question makes me laugh.

"Of course not," I promise. "I love you, Shelby."

After that she stops asking questions that she already knows the answer to.

She's so much more than just a pool client.

We watch "our" daughter in silence-one "happy" family. Unless Quinn decides to open her mouth. Then we're screwed.

. . . . . . . . . . .

(Shelby POV)-

Puck has to play 3 songs on my acoustic before Beth will even consider relaxing enough to lie down. I finally get her to fall asleep, after singing her an Italian lullaby and kissing the top of her head. The door to the nursery shuts lightly behind me, and I spin on the spot, only to see Noah smiling broadly at me.

My lips manage to curl into a weak smile back, and he takes my hand, looking worried. "What's the matter, Shelby?"

His hands are warm, and way too comforting. I slip my hand away from his grasp and look down at the floor.

"This was-is-a mistake." I admit to him while walking towards the living room.

"What is?" he doesn't hesitate to follow me.

"This. Us. It's wrong." I shake my head, refusing to look at him.

"What's so wrong about it?" he asks, his voice low and syrupy.

The fact that if I let myself actually fall for you, i'll be in even deeper trouble than my life is in now. And I can't deal with that. Besides that, you're eighteen. I feel like a cradle snatcher.

Oh God. I'm a freaking cradle snatcher.

"Everything." I sigh, showing him the door. "You need to leave. This can't continue."

"Why not?"

I groan. We've been over this more than once. But I keep letting him come back. Why? Because I promised him he could see his daughter. Why did I do that again? Something about responsibility and compassion... I am so full of it.

"I was desperate at the hospital a few weeks ago. I was scared. I was lonely. That was the only reason any of this happened."

"That's not what you said the other night."

"I was drunk the other night." I respond, dryly.

"Oh, like THAT'S an excuse." he rolls his eyes playfully. I pretend not to care.

He throws on his jacket with a shrug and proceeds to leave my apartment. Before he's entirely gone from my sight, he turns around and looks me dead in the eye.

"This is going to happen. We're going to be together."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Noah." I sigh.

"We didn't do much actual sleeping, as I recall-"

"Goodnight, Puck." I interrupt, starting to lose patience.

"Love you."

He's gone and i'm shaking out of annoyance. Since when does Shelby Corcoran let a man push her around? Particularly one that's eighteen years old? I need to get some sleep, and some priorities straight, and...I need sleep. I really need sleep.

But as I climb into bed and pull the covers over me, my mind is in overdrive.

Five hours later I finally get myself to calm down.

My eyes slowly flutter shut, and...

"Waaahhhhhh!"

-and reality sets in. I gave up sleep when I adopted Beth. One of the small prices to pay for such a wonderful daughter.

I yawn and pick her up, rocking her slowly. Her little eyes shimmer when they look into mind, and she cuddles into my touch. She stops crying and I just stand there, swooping her back and forth in my arms.

So worth it.

So what do you think? Let me know! ~~hayleynymphadora