So this one shot is inspired by the song See You Again by the lovely Carrie Underwood. She released the music video for it the other day which got me inspired to write this. I totally recommend the video to everyone!
Other than that, please enjoy :)
Said goodbye, turned around
And you were gone, gone, gone
Faded into the setting sun,
Slipped away
But I won't cry
Cause I know I'll never be lonely
For you are the stars to me,
You are the light I follow
Four years. Four years of longing, tears, and prayers. It was four years ago when Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman enlisted in the army. Finn wanted to go to follow the footsteps of his father. Seeing how his best friend was enlisting, Puck gave the idea some consideration. The job was dangerous and life threatening but he could also support his girlfriend and little girl.
Quinn and Rachel sat together at the airport, waiting for their boyfriends to arrive. Puck and Finn's family and friends had also shown up at JFK to welcome them home.
The young women, now twenty-two, had both recently graduated. Quinn from Yale, majoring in journalism and Rachel from NYADA, majoring in musical theater. They had both supported each other through those four rough years and were closer than ever. If you told them that all those years ago in high school, they would've laughed and laughed.
"I don't know why I'm so nervous," said Rachel.
"Rachel Berry, nervous? I thought I'd never see the day," Kurt interjected.
"Don't be nervous sweetie," said Carole, Finn's mom.
Rachel smiled at her; she knew Carole was beyond happy to see her son. The brunette looked over at Quinn who had a sleepy six year old Beth in her lap.
"You okay?"
Quinn nodded, "Yeah, I just thought I would never see this day come."
Rachel placed a comforting hand on Quinn's shoulder, "Me either."
That's when Quinn started to think about the night Puck had told Quinn that he enlisted and was being deployed that same week.
Finn and Puck had just graduated high school when they made the decision. They had told their families and now they had to tell their girlfriends.
Puck and Quinn had ultimately decided to keep Beth. It was one of the hardest decisions they had to make, but only two years in, they realized they made the right decision in raising their daughter. Puck had called Quinn earlier, saying that he was coming over to talk about something.
He approached the Fabray household and rang the doorbell. Quinn was quick to answer it, "Hey," she said.
"Hey," he said back, giving her a peck on the lips. "Is Beth asleep?"
"Yeah I just put her down. What did you want to talk about?"
"Um," Puck started, placing his hands in his pockets. "We should go upstairs and talk."
He started walking towards the staircase and up to Quinn's bedroom. "Puck what is it, you're starting to scare me."
They entered her room and Quinn sat down on her queen sixed bed. "I don't know how to say this," he started saying.
"Puck…"
"Quinn, I enlisted."
"Wh-what?"
"Finn and I enlisted, we're leaving on Friday."
"You have got to be kidding me Puck. What are you talking about you're enlisted? We-we got an apartment in Connecticut so that we can raise Beth together while I attend classes at Yale. Now you're going into the army?"
He sighed as he examined the packed up moving boxes along her wall. "Quinn I want to do this. I know I should've talked to you about this beforehand, but Finn…"
"Screw Finn! I love him but he dragged you into this! Does your mom know? What about Sarah?"
"He didn't drag me into this Quinn. He told me what he was doing and I gave it some thought for myself and I wanted to do it. I told my mom and Sarah already, she isn't fully accepting of the idea but she says she'll support me."
Tears started to fill Quinn's eyes, "What about Beth huh? Did you ever consider her in this decision?"
"Look," he said, getting on his knees in front of her. Taking her hands into his, kissing the top of her knuckles, "You know I'm not college material and pool cleaning isn't the best job to support a family, but this can. I want to do something in my life that means something and fighting for my country is exactly that. You're still going to move to New Haven. I'm not letting you give your education up for me."
Quinn breathed out heavily. She pulled her hands away and placed them on the sides of his broad face. "You have to promise me something and you better keep this damn promise," she started. "Promise me that you will come home, in one piece. I don't know what I would do if I lost you Puck, you're the love of my life. Come back for me and come back for Beth okay?"
He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. Slightly pulling away, he put his hand on her neck and rested his forehead on hers. "It's a promise."
"When is Daddy's plane coming?" Beth asked.
"Soon baby," she said, comforting her daughter.
I can hear those echoes in the wind at night
Calling me back in time
Back to you
In a place far away
Where the water meets the sky
The thought of it makes me smile
You are my tomorrow
Rachel looked down and played with the ring on her left hand, smiling at it. Thinking about how they could finally get married now. Rachel herself started to think about when Finn told her that he was leaving.
They had just finished an amazing date that night. Rachel was going on, talking about her plans in New York and how excited she was for NYADA. After realizing that Finn was acting different, she stopped talking, "Are you okay Finn?"
"Rach."
"Finn what's wrong?" Rachel asked as he pulled into Rachel's driveway.
"God, you're gonna hate me."
"Did you…cheat on me?"
He turned to her in the seat, "No, I would never do that to you. God, no."
"Then what is it baby? You know you can tell me anything."
"I joined the army."
Rachel was speechless in that moment. "Puck and I leave on Friday."
"Puck is going with you?" Rachel started to cry.
"Rachel please don't cry."
"What do you expect me to do Finn? Smile and be happy?"
"No, but Rachel please…"
"And why would you give Puck the idea to do this? He has a family!" she sobbed. "I can't believe this is happening right now."
"Rachel! Baby calm down and listen to me, please!"
She couldn't look at him, it'd hurt too much if she did. "Rachel I'm doing this so I can make my father proud of me. You know I'm not going to get in NYU next year. I'm not good enough for it. And yes, I told Puck what I was doing and he made the decision for himself that he wanted to join me."
Rachel still wouldn't look at him. "Rach, look at me."
She squeezed her eyes tightly, letting tears run down her cheeks. She finally turned back to Finn and saw that he had a ring in his hand. "Finn…what are you doing?"
"I was going to give you this at dinner tonight but I wanted to wait until now. It's my promise to you that I'm going to come back home to you, that I love you with everything I have. When I come back in four years, I want to marry you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you Rachel Berry."
"So," said Finn. "Will you marry me?"
Rachel licked her lips and nodded, "Yes, I will marry you."
Finn smiled tearfully, placing the ring on her left hand. They kissed each other on the lips and then embraced each other in a hug, "You better keep your promise Finn, and come back to me."
"It's a promise."
Rachel checked the time on her phone. It was four o'clock and she started to become more excited than nervous. One more hour and they would be back home. "They should be coming soon," said Judy, Quinn's mother.
The group of family and friends were chatting it up and didn't even realize the two men in their uniforms walking towards them in the distance. "Daddy!"
Quinn turned to her daughter, "Beth, Daddy isn't coming for another hour."
She saw that Beth wasn't next to her anymore, but running up to Puck. "Rachel…." said Quinn, shaking her best friend's leg.
"DADDY!" Beth exclaimed, running into his open arms. Her little pigtails bouncing up and down as she rushed towards him.
"Oh Beth," he cried, scooping up his daughter and holding her close. He missed out on four years of her life, and now he wasn't going to miss anymore.
"I missed you daddy," she said.
"I missed you too baby girl."
"Hi Beth," said Finn with a smile.
"Hi Uncle Finn."
Both men looked up and saw the loves of their lives running towards them. Quinn got to Puck first, wrapping her arms around him and Beth. They exchanged a long kiss before they finally pulled away. "You kept your promise," Quinn said tearfully.
"I keep my promises."
Rachel kept running to Finn until he finally caught the tiny brunette in his arms. Her legs wrapped around his waist and held onto his muscular body, afraid of ever letting him go. "I missed you so much," she said in between kisses as she cried.
"I missed you too Rach."
Rachel smiled at him, "Thank you for coming back home to me."
"I had to, we're getting married after all," he joked, giving her another kiss on the lips.
"It's good to see you again," Quinn said to Puck and Finn, before they were joined with the rest of their family and friends.
"Yeah," said Rachel. "It's good to see you again."
I'll See you again, oh
This is not where it ends
I will carry you with me, oh
Till I see you again