Rachel is twenty six when she says yes to marriage. She says yes to a five carat diamond over dinner, momentarily stunned by the events occurring. She had expected a ring and a proposal; she's the type of girl to get married. She had expected this type of thing but she bites the inside corner of her lip nervously, she didn't expect this so soon. The ring is floating in her champagne glass, and her fiancé has prepared a wonderful speech, and she loves him. She does; this type of love doesn't need convincing. She doesn't believe in soul mates but she believes in waking up with one person for the rest of her life, and she could see herself waking up to Mark. He's an investment banker, the responsible man she's always seen herself marrying. He doesn't fit into her theatrical lifestyle, and she thinks that's the best part.
She shakes her head to jolt her out of her thoughts and Mark panics; he hadn't expected a no in a crowd of people. Rachel puts her hand over his, a reassuring smile on her lips, and of course she'll marry him. Mark kisses her, and he looks relieved. Rachel kisses back and wonders why there's an ache multiplying at the bottom of her stomach. This is not how the newly engaged are meant to feel. Mark smiles at those staring around them, flashing a thumbs up sign to signal she said yes. Everybody claps, and Rachel smiles nervously, nervous at the attention. She's a performer, she should be used to attention. The manager sends champagne on the house, and she arrives home with him, tipsy and exhausted.
Mark kisses her in the middle of their living room, and she kisses him back, but he tastes different and she doesn't understand why. She's had him before, their relationship has lasted since the early days of college. He found her on the lawn, preparing for an audition, and she liked the way he made her laugh. He's made her laugh and he's never made her cry. Her relationship is the most stable out of all the people she knows, and her friends and family love him. That's always been enough for her.
Rachel picks up the phone in the morning, holding it in her hands to call everyone she knows. She dials the first set of numbers when she places the phone back onto the table. She'll wait, she decided. She'll keep the good news to herself for a little while longer. She goes back to sleep, and visions of diamonds and white cloud her vision. She wakes up, and wonders why her engagement feels like the end.
Puck is twenty six when he proposes marriage. It had been an accident in every sense of the word. He hid the ring in his sock drawer, and she found it, squealing in excitement. He's been dating Emily since he enrolled in college, since he first saw her in her cheer leading uniform. She's wonderful and this is the next step in their relationship; he has to propose sooner or later, it might as well be now. He says something off the top of his head, and it sounds horrible to his ears but she loves it, and says yes before he finishes asking the question. He nurses a beer while she calls all of her family and friends. Suddenly, he feels tired and he doesn't understand why.
He pretends to be asleep when Emily crawls into bed with him, and makes no motion when her hand covers his side. He'll talk to her in the morning, he thinks. It's her own fault for being on the phone the entire night. He wakes up the next morning, and she's sleeping, a content smile on her face. He doesn't have the heart to wake her, and kisses her on the forehead instead. He walks out the door, keys and cell phone in hand. He's dialing his mother to tell her the good news, and they talk and talk, but the conversation is over after twenty minutes when she hangs up and he realizes he never told her.
Ten years after their brief fling in high school, Puck and Rachel are saying yes to marriage, and yes to a lifetime of commitment. The problem with these types of things, there's always a problem, is that they're not saying yes to each other.