Rachel

She sat there staring at her salad, not really wanting to eat it. She knew she needed to, but she just wasn't hungry. She jumped out of her seat when her phone rang. Picking it up, she saw a picture of Santana and Brittney looking up at her, "Hello?"

"Hey Berry," Santana's voice cooed.

"Hello Santana. This is certainly a surprise." Of all the people it could have been, she didn't expect Santana.

"Well Hummel told me that you were lonely up there and I had a little proposition for you."

Rachel scrunched her face trying to think of what it could be, "I'm listening."

"Well, I was wondering if you would like some company for a few days. As you know, I'm moving to New York at the end of the summer and I need to find a place to stay. I thought maybe I could stay with you for a little bit while I go apartment hunting. What do you think?"

Rachel smiled, "I would love that Santana! I think I have a better idea though, if you're up for it."

"Lay it on me."

"What if you live here? At least for a little while. You could move into the spare room and help with food and stuff. My dads are taking care of half of the rent so that's all you would need to do. You can save some money while you figure out what you're gonna do. How does that sound?" The thought of having someone familiar around sounded so good to Rachel right then, even if it was Santana.

"I'm down with that. I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do, but this would give me time to figure that out. You sure you're cool with this?"

"It would be nice to have you around. This place is too big for just me." She could hear the sadness in her own voice, but she couldn't help it. She wanted Finn here and she wanted Kurt to live in the spare room, but at least she would have Santana.

Obviously Santana could hear it too, "Look Berry, I know I'm not good with the emotional crap, but you can talk to me if you want."

"I miss him. It will be good for me to have you here I think. It might make it hurt a little less."

"Then it's done. Brit and I will be there Saturday to start moving stuff in if that's okay."

"Sounds perfect."

"See ya then Berry."

"Bye Santana."

Kurt

He had told Mercedes and Blaine about his conversation with Rachel and by lunchtime everyone knew. Their little group had expanded when Tina, Mike, Artie, Quinn, Brittany and Santana showed up. He missed Rachel and for some reason it didn't seem the same without her here. Apparently, everyone else felt the same way.

Tina leaned into Mike, "I wish she hadn't left so soon."

Mercedes picked up her latte, "Me too, but do you really think Finn would have been able to let her go if she had?"

"I don't wanna sound mean, but I think he really screwed up this time." Everyone turned to look at Quinn, surprised at what she was saying. "What? I know I was against them getting married, but they really do love each other. What if something happens to him after he leaves for the army? You know how much that would destroy her. He's gonna regret doing this."

Kurt felt like he had to defend his brother, "It was his decision Quinn."

Quinn didn't back down, "Well it should have been their decision. He shouldn't have just decided for her."

Kurt sighed, "While I don't necessarily agree with Finn's actions, I have to respect them, and so do all of you."

Santana jumped into the conversation, "Don't worry about the little diva. Snix and I are gonna take care of her."

Kurt was shocked, "What are you talking about?"

She took in the looks everyone was giving her and rolled her eyes, "Look, you said she was lonely so I offered to stay with her for a few days while I look for an apartment and she told me to just live there while I figure out what I'm gonna do, okay? It's not a big deal."

Artie smiled at her, "At least she'll have someone there with her."

"It's really cool you're doing this Santana," Sam added.

She got a little uncomfortable, "Like I said, it's not a big deal."

"For you, it kinda is." Everyone laughed at Mike's comment.

Kurt looked around for a second and realized that Puck wasn't here, "Anyone seen Puck?"

Blaine answered him, "I think he went to see Finn."

Puck

He reached the door to Finn's house and rang the bell. He hated waiting for someone to answer the door. He used to just walk in at Finn's old house, but that was different. After several minutes he rang the bell again. He knew that Finn was home, but he obviously didn't want to answer the door. 'Screw this' he thought and opened the door.

He climbed the stairs to Finn's room and banged on the door, "Open up dude."

He heard a shuffling and waited for his friend to pull himself together and open the door. "Hey man."

"Hey Puck. What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you. I figured you could use a friend right now."

Finn moved back from the door and let his oldest friend in his room. Puck took his usual seat at the foot of the bed, "I know you're probably tired of people asking how you are, so I figured I'd let you tell me what you wanted to do. What do you need right now?"

He watched as Finn's eyes moved to a picture at his bedside. It was a picture of him and Rachel at the senior prom. They looked so happy on that stupid dinosaur. Finn shrugged and sat down on the bed too, "I don't know. I don't feel like doing anything right now."

Puck nodded and his eyes fell on a controller at his feet. He picked it up and showed it to Finn, "How about some mindless violence?"

"I wouldn't be able to focus on it right now man."

This was completely out of Puck's area of expertise. He didn't know how to cheer Finn up. "Have you talked to her?" Finn just shook his head. He continued, "Maybe you should."

"I told her to get on that train, remember? Besides, I'm shipping out to Georgia on Sunday. I think talking to her would only hurt her…and me."

"You're really going through with this whole army thing?" Puck didn't think his friend would actually go through with it.

"Yeah, I can't stay here." He didn't remember the last time he saw Finn so down.

"You don't have to stay here. You could still go to New York."

Finn shook his head, "She needs to live her dreams and she can't do that with me dragging her down."

Puck watched as a tear rolled down his friend's cheek, "You never dragged Rachel down. If you ask me, you were always the one building her up. Just ask her and I bet she'd say the same thing. You were the reason she got into that stupid school. Don't you think you should at least try?"

"It's too late. Even if what you say is true, I already enlisted and I can't take it back now. I leave on Sunday. I haven't told anyone else yet."

"What!? You're leaving on Sunday and you didn't bother to let anyone know?" Now he was pissed. He had to watch his best friend give up the girl he loved and now he was planning on leaving without any notice?

"I was going to tell everyone, but with everything going on with Rachel I didn't feel up to it."

Puck knew his friend was going through a rough time, but running away wasn't the answer. "Dude, you don't have to do this."

"Yes I do. Maybe when I get back I can make it work with Rachel, but right now this is for the best."

Puck knew better than to keep arguing with Finn. His friend was going to go through with this half-cocked plan and nothing he said would change that. Sometimes Finn could be a real idiot.