Noah Puckerman took a slow sip of bourbon, letting it roll in his mouth for a bit before swallowing. He eyed the couple from across the room, feeling his stomach clench painfully and a thousand memories rolling in his head. It's been years since he last saw her. And the effect that she still had on him was overwhelming. The feeling washed over him like a powerful wave. His heart was hammering against his ribs, his knees felt like they were about to buckle if he took a step toward them and his palms were probably sweaty. He took another sip and swallowed hard.

"Hey champ, take it easy."

He turned around to see a beautiful woman in her late twenties, shiny chestnut brown hair tied back in a neat bun, flawless olive skin, red lips, dazzling green eyes and a killer body underneath a seductive designed dress. Men were glancing in her direction and shot envying looks at Puck.

Puck frowned. "Don't call me champ."

The girl chuckled. She loved teasing him. "Whatever. We aren't even on duty."

"But I'm still your superior." Puck knew this glee club reunion was a bad idea. Bringing her was even worse. "Meaning you have to address me as Master Sergeant or Sergeant."

The girl chuckled again and crossed her arms. "Look Puck, if you want to talk to her then just go talk to her. Jeez, you don't have to torture yourself. You can be a big boy and just leave."

"It's not that easy Maggie. She has…someone with her." Puck glanced at his watch. It was almost eleven. He had been at the bar for most of the night. Most of his glee friends were on the dance floor or talking and reminiscing with each other somewhere around the club. Of course he had been offered to dance with Kurt, Rachel, Brittany, Santana and even Sam but he politely turned them all down. The party that Rachel organized started at seven and he spent most of it building up the courage to talk to her but he just couldn't.

He had two months before going back to Afghanistan and conveniently, had time for the reunion, he knew she'd be there. Thinking like a teenaged boy, he invited Major General Maggie Hart, who happened to be his very, very attractive lady friend, thinking that she would go crazy jealous over her but didn't count on the fact that she'd have someone as well.

Maggie shook her head. "Come on, you invited me to make her jealous. I ship back to Afghanistan in a month. I want to spend my leave here with hot available men, I sure don't want to be at this glee club reunion."

"Then go." Puck told her bitterly.

"Nuh uh Puckerman, you came here to get your girl back. Now go get her."

"I can't just go and…get her." Puck said. "I haven't even talked to her in years."

Maggie laughed. "Jesus Puckerman, are you serious? You can talk to any woman in this room and go away with her. You're a ladies man. You've slept with almost all of the girls in your senior class and probably junior and probably some of the sophomores when you were in high school. You're THE Noah Puckerman."

"That shit is none of your business. How did you know about that anyway?" Did she do any covert research on me or something?

"Your friends told me." She said simply. Puck shook his head. "It's not as easy as it looks. We have…history. A lot of history. I got her pregnant during high school and well…I don't know. We have a lot of unresolved business."

"Wow Puckerman, you seriously do have history with her. I assumed it was that you cheated on her with her best friend type shit." Puck swallowed and laughed inwardly. People always assume something is his fault.

His eyes magnetically hovered back to Quinn. She was whispering something in her boyfriend's ear. He couldn't help but think how beautiful she still was. Sure she's aged but like fine wine, she just got better with age. Her hair was shorter than he remembered but other than that, she still looked as beautiful as ever. His heart hammered in his chest as he watched her throw her head in laughter at something funny her boyfriend said. He could see how perfectly happy she was. How she never was with him. The thought made him sigh heavily.

Maggie followed his gaze. She smiled slightly and said, "She looks really happy. I have to admit, she's really pretty." Maggie turned to him and looked him in the eyes. "Puckerman, I know you're still in love with her. She might still be in love with you too. You came here to get your girl and now here she is in front of you. You can't let her slip away again. Not tonight."

Puck glanced back at them and saw her plant a kiss on her boyfriend. That used to be him. Puck felt his chest inflate with a newfound hope and a newfound strength coursed through his veins. There was no way he's going without Quinn. Not tonight.

"You're right. I'm being stupid. I can't just sit here and watch her with another man. If she isn't the one, she might as well be." Puck downed his drink, straightened himself and crossed the room toward them. Puck could now hear his heart hammering loudly in his ears.

Maggie turned to the bartender and said, "Tequila and put it on that guy's tab." She then pointed at Quinn's boyfriend. The bartender raised eyebrow. "Are you sure miss? Do you even know the guy?"

"Damn sure. And for the record bub, you don't call me miss. I ain't a miss. I am a Major General for the U.S Marine Corps. I work my ass off in Afghanistan to protect my country day in and day out. If you ever doubt me again that means you doubt my ability and devotion to protect this country. If you ever doubt me again, I will shove this bottle of tequila and my fellow Marines down in the barracks feet up your ass, am I clear?"

The bartender nodded, shocked and horrified. "One tequila coming right up."

Quinn knew it was him when he heard his voice. She felt the familiar tug of her heart whenever he was close, kind of like a metal detector whenever it found something metal (duh metal detector, what else is it supposed to find). She had very own "Puck detector". She laughed quietly to herself at the thought. She drew quick short breaths and turned around.

"Hey!" She didn't know if she should hug him or shake his hand, considering that she knew how she was around him and considering their very long and complicated history. She took a quick second to register him. After all, she hasn't seen him in years. He looked a lot more mature, a lot more handsome. His Mohawk was gone and he had acquired a little scruff under the chin and a little under the jaw. His body was more defined and filled out deliciously. His chest was straining under his black suit. And those eyes, still the same as ever yet the look in it was something entirely different. Hot damn.

He smiled. God, that smile. She reached out to hug him but he stuck his hand out at the same time. "Oh…sorry." She apologized sheepishly. She shook his hand. She could still feel the familiarity of his hand folded around hers. It sent a jolt up her spine. Quinn felt his eyes on her and she couldn't really help but blush. She quickly took a sip of her wine.

"It's been so long. You look beautiful." Puck said, retracting his hand slowly from hers. Quinn chuckled, taking another quick second to look at him. "Not bad yourself Puckerman." Quinn said. "I have to say, you look good in a suit."

Puck smiled slightly. "Thanks. It's nice to be out of uniform."

"Uniform?" Quinn asked, puzzled. Her eyes fell on the lapel pin on his suit. "Oh yeah, U.S Air Force General Noah Puckerman. Wow. You've come a long way Puck."

"General? Not yet anyways." He couldn't resist giving her a wink. He felt his confidence rise up. "I've still got a long grind ahead of me if I wanna be general someday. It's Master Sergeant for now." Quinn felt her pride rise to her chest. Puck really has come a long way. Their eyes met for a moment and she felt something she hasn't felt in a long time. Like two things colliding toward each other and finally meeting.

"Who's Master Sergeant?" A voice interrupted them. Quinn turned and saw Paul. She had completely forgot that Paul was with her. "Oh my God, sorry. Um, Paul, this is my…" Quinn stopped herself. How was she supposed to introduce him? "Is this the great Noah Puckerman?" Paul said grinning and extending his hand.

Puck kept his cool. He shook it. "You're looking at him. And you must be Quinn's boyfriend?"

"Yeah, I'm Paul Anderson. Soon to be president of Anderson and Sons, the law firm up in Manhattan." Puck grit his teeth. He had a strong dislike for lawyers. This one in particular. He turned to Quinn. "Quinn, you didn't tell me you were friends with Noah Puckerman. The man who defended and singlehandedly flew the president back on American territory."

"That's…that's me." Puck didn't like talking about the incident. Paul smiled and wrapped his arm around Quinn.

"He what?" Quinn asked.

"When the president visited Afghanistan, they were ambushed at the hangar by Al 'Qaeda agents and killed almost everyone. This man shot everyone one of those Al 'Qaeda men and flew the president back to American soil with a bullet in his left shoulder and one in the ribs."

"When was this?"

"A couple weeks ago I think." Paul looked at Puck and said, "It was amazing what you did. Thank you." Paul took a step back and saluted Puck.

Puck returned the salute. "It wasn't just me you know. I had help from a Marine."

Paul laughed. "Well if he was here I'd better give him a drink."

"Actually, it's a she and as a matter of fact, she is." Puck pointed to Maggie at the bar, talking to some man. Paul gave a low whistle. "Wow. Her? A Marine? Never really thought about that." Paul turned back to Quinn. "She's got nothing on you babe."

Puck blinked. "If she heard you, she'd probably hit you in the face."

"Well we wouldn't want that now? Anyway, it looks like she's making her way so…I might as well offer her a drink." He said with a little chuckle. Maggie glided her way to Puck's side. Quinn couldn't help but feel that nervous pang in her chest when Maggie's hand snaked around Puck. When Maggie made her introductions to them, Quinn felt like the ground was shaking underneath her. She held onto Paul for support. She didn't know what she felt.

She and Puck were over. They were over long ago. So why was she jealous of Maggie? She had Paul, right? She felt detached from the conversation, laughing at times when they also laughed and her cheeks hurt from all the fake smiling when really she was on the verge of throwing up. Puck leaned in closer to Maggie and whispered something into Maggie's ear which made Maggie laugh. "You're such an idiot." Maggie laughed and turned to Paul. "Puck thinks that you have a Supercuts haircut."

Paul sheepishly rubbed his hair. "Well when you're a lawyer you don't have time for 60 dollar haircuts."

"Well I say you look handsome in it." Maggie said flirtatiously. "Especially in that suit. You know Puck; you should wear something like that. Add a little color to your wardrobe. You keep wearing black, sooner or later somebody's going to think that someone died." Puck rolled his eyes.

"I can definitely hook you up with a couple of Armani suits. It's the least I could do for what you've done for this country." Paul offered. "And probably Valentino for the lovely lady."

Maggie grinned. "Well I don't mind Paul. Quinn has good taste. Tall, handsome, rich, successful, kind, generous, charming and funny. The whole package! But let's see how you do on the dance floor." Maggie grabbed Paul's hand and turned to Quinn. "You don't mind do you Quinn?" Quinn shook her head and in a flash, she was alone with Puck. Quinn felt instantly better as soon as Maggie and Paul left.

"You can't deny her boldness." Puck admired.

"I can see why you like her. Well I'm happy for you Puck." Quinn strained on the last part.

"Oh, we're not a couple. We're just friends."

"Really?" Quinn said.

"Really." Puck smiled. "Besides, she's just here because I asked her to. She's against her will, so to speak."

"What? Because you asked her to?" Quinn asked, puzzled.

"Yeah." Puck just smiled. He then held his hand out for her to take. "Do you wanna dance?"

"That's not how you ask a lady." Quinn said playfully.

Puck sighed. "May I have this dance?" Puck smirked. Quinn took his hand. "You may." Together they stepped out to the dance floor and as soon as they did, a slow Norah Jones song came on and instantly they drew each other close, filling in the familiar curves of each other's bodies and their arms around one another, like they were afraid to let each other go. Quinn buried her face in his neck. Quinn can't remember the last time they held each other this close. "Is this where you got shot?" Quinn's hand touched a random spot on his left shoulder.

Puck shook his head. "No. Actually I got shot here." He guided her hand over to the left his chest. Just near his heart. Quinn's eyes widened in shock.

"But the tabloids said it was the left shoulder."

"Yeah about that though, I paid them to say it was the shoulder. I wouldn't want my mom to worry." Puck explained.

"How did you survive? I mean, near the heart? You could've died instantly."

"When I got shot, Maggie came to my rescue. She pulled the bullet out but my heart was failing me. I couldn't move. But I had to keep fighting. I thought about mom, Beth, my duty to America." He chuckled a little. "But still I couldn't stay alive. Maggie kept telling me to stay awake because if I knew if I close my eyes I would slip away. Then when I closed my eyes, I could hear your voice, telling me to stay awake. When I opened my eye, the first thing I saw was your eyes. I saw you. At first I thought I was hallucinating and yeah, I guess I was. But I didn't care. It was you. I thought, 'I need to stay awake. For Quinn.' I found my strength, the reason why I needed to live. So I stood up and long story short, saved the president."

Quinn felt herself well up with a barrage of emotions. She couldn't believe Puck was telling her this. She wanted to speak but couldn't. Tears formed in her eyes but Puck wiped them away gently.

"Don't cry."

"Did it hurt?" Quinn asked.

"Like hell. Almost as much when I saw you with Finn, Sam, Biff and Paul."

"I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize. You did nothing wrong. I'd be pretty pissed if I didn't have a boyfriend for this long. It questions my hotness. You know, if I was a girl."

Quinn chuckled in his ear. Quinn just smiled, thinking how easy it was to talk to Puck.

"I'm sorry, it's just…it's not possible." Quinn said. "Things like that don't just happen."

"They do. I mean, I would call it a miracle but it's not. Miracles are what people say when they can't explain what happened. But I know what happened. I know why I'm alive today. It's because of you Quinn. You're why I breathe; you're why I even wake up in the morning and you know how I hate mornings. I love you Quinn Fabray. I let you slip away from me too many times in the past. Now I'm making it right again." Quinn felt her heart inflate five times its size, like it was too big for her chest. Memories flood into her head and for the first time in years, she felt like she was finally doing something right. She looked up and saw Puck. She leaned in and kissed him. It felt like broken was now fixed and now mending itself. The sensation was incredible and his lips against hers were amazing.

Quinn broke away, "Took us long enough."

"Way too long babe." Puck leaned in for another kiss. He drew her in closer against his body until there wasn't enough space between them. Puck felt like the world was on his side now. Like everything was finally falling into place.

When they finally broke apart, the first thing Quinn saw was Maggie making out with Paul. Puck followed her gaze and laughed. "I'll break up with him tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? What's wrong with now?"

"Right now, I'm too busy being with the man I should've been with these last few years." Quinn said smiling into a kiss.

"Well let me know if we're done here because I'm going to be busing making up for some lost time."

"You're still a horndog, I see."

"Yeah but no one else has been able to satisfy you completely in that department." Puck smiled and kissed down to her neck. Quinn laughed and said, "I love you too."