Disclaimer: I do not own anything…None of the characters in this chapter, nor Glee…

Puck stared at his best friend, wondering how in the world life had come to this. They were twenty-one, but often Puck still felt like he was in high school. Why was his best friend in uniform, ready to be shipped off to Iraq?

Finn was currently whispering with his girlfriend, Rachel Berry, who was obviously trying very hard not to break down in the middle of Finn's good bye party. She had been clinging to his arm all night, which was very atypical for her. Yes, Rachel and Finn were a couple, but they usually weren't all that into large amounts of PDA. The fact that Rachel had been by Finn's side practically all night, gazing up at him while barely looking around at anyone else, was a good hint that something was off.

Puck noticed Finn motioning him over, so he found his way through the throngs of people who had come to bid Finn good bye and wish him well and tell him to stay safe.

"Hey, Puck, question for you," Finn said. "Would you still be able to take me to the station tomorrow?" Finn asked, glancing down at Rachel who now had tears in her eyes.

"I thought-" Puck started, but when he saw the meaningful look Finn was sending his way while discreetly nodding to Rachel, he understood. "Yeah, sure, man. What time?"

As they figured out the details about when Puck would pick Finn up and how long it'd take them to get to the destination, Puck reflected back on his life. It still seemed so crazy that he was standing here with Finn and Rachel, his best friends. Well, Finn had been his best friend since they were three, but it was only when they entered high school that Finn had met Rachel and befriended her. Then, once Finn and Rachel started dating, Puck would hang out with Rachel more than he used to, so they kind of became friends by default. Of course, Puck didn't exactly have only platonic feelings for Rachel, but he'd never tell that to anyone.

See, when Finn met Rachel initially, he had naturally introduced Puck to her as well. While she wasn't the type that Puck usually went for, there was just something about Rachel Berry that drew him to her. He still remembered the fateful day he decided he'd just man up and ask her out…

Junior Year at McKinley High

Puck had come in early that day, determined to have a date with Rachel by the end of the day, preferably before lunch. He had arrived earlier than usual because he needed the time to mentally prep himself. He figured that he'd wait somewhere near Rachel's locker, approach her, ask her out, and feel accomplished enough by first period, that he'd feel he deserved a break and head to the nurse's office for a nap.

Puck had started instituting his plan, waiting in what he hoped was a surreptitious location not far from Rachel's locker. When Brittany stopped to talk to him and ask him what he thought she should get Mike for a birthday present, he figured if he chatted with her for a while, it'd make his whole plan that much smoother. Except that apparently he spent a bit too much time pondering ideas with Brittany, because when he cast a sly glance in the direction of Rachel's locker, he saw her there…talking to Finn, who had that eager look on his face that Puck knew was his "I really like you, would you please go out with me and we'll live happily ever after" look.

Quickly telling Brittany that he just remembered Mike had said he wanted a tie for his birthday, Puck headed off in the direction of Rachel and Finn, hoping that he had been wrong about Finn's expression. He caught the end of Finn's sentence as he approached.

"…so tonight at 7?" Finn grinned.

Rachel beamed up at him, a huge grin on her face. "That sounds great, Finn. I'm looking forward."

Finn suddenly noticed Puck. "Oh, hey, Puck! What's up?" he said even more cheerfully than usual.

"Nothing," Puck grunted and moved away quickly. He couldn't believe he'd missed his chance because of Mike's stupid birthday present.

"It's okay," he reassured himself. "Finn and Rachel won't work out (no offense to either of them), and when they realize that they're just not meant to be like that, you'll step up and get your chance."

Except that they'd never broken up, and Puck never got his chance.

A.N. Hi, everyone! This is my new story; I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter. I will let you know right now that I don't really know much about the army, so if something doesn't seem realistic or you're like, "Uh, that's not the way it is at all!" I'm sorry…You can let me know and I will try to fix it. I don't plan on putting much jargon in the story because I don't exactly want to be using wrong terms or whatever, but if I do, I'm apologizing in advance. I hope you forgive me.

Please review!