When Rachel arrived at the Puckerman house she couldn't wait to help Mary get everything ready for when Noah arrived home. She had missed him so much over the summer and she couldn't help but smile to herself as she unconsciously reached for the silver chain hanging around her neck disappearing into her shirt.
But as she saw Mary sitting there in a heap crying her heart out she instantly knew something was wrong as she quickly rushed forward dropping to her knees in front of the older woman.
"Mary?" Rachel asked softly "Mary what's wrong?" But she got no answer as the only woman she ever knew to be the closest thing as a Mother broke down even more not even able to get out a single word.
That was when Rachel saw the piece of paper next to Mary as she reached out for it she knew that this letter must be the source of the poor woman's stress.
Picking it up she began to read hearing no protest from Mary. But when her eyes reached the last words of the letter she gasped horrified at what this letter could only mean.
"No" She whispered not being able to believe it "No this has to be a mistake" She insisted looking up at the older woman who just sadly shock her head grief filling her eyes.
"No it has to be! It has to be a mistake!" Rachel argued dropping the letter as if it was contaminated already feeling dirty from having touched it in the first place.
As she quickly stood up having every intention of finding the number for the basic training centre in Fort Ord, California and proving that their Noah… her Noah was not there and that this had all been a silly misunderstanding and that this disgusting letter had simply been sent to the wrong address. But before she could even take a step forward she caught her reflection in one of the windows of the Puckerman house.
Tears were flowing down her cheeks that she hadn't even realised were there but compared to the woman who was still seated on the ground she was holding it together… and that was what she had to do because even though she wished it wasn't true the Army doesn't make mistakes, letters like this don't get sent to an address without a reason and she knew that this letter was here for a reason.
At the moment she was all this family had left to hold it all together usually that had been Noah's job. It had been his job to hold his family together and make sure his mum and sister were happy but he wasn't here now and he probably wasn't coming back for god knows when.
And suddenly it all made sense.
Flash Back
It was late and Rachel had finally fallen asleep having not gotten a good nights rest since the beginning of summer before Noah left. He had gone of a road trip with Finn, Mike and Sam and the four of them were going to be gone for the whole summer and weren't arriving back until the day before school started back.
But only five minutes after she had dozed off her phone started ringing waking her up as she groggily reached for her phone not even bothering to check the caller I.D as she clicked the answer button.
"Hello?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes as they adjusted to the darkness of the room.
"Rach" An all to familiar voiced breathed out on the end of the line.
"Noah!" Rachel asked surprised as she sat upright reaching to turn her bedside lamp on
"Hey baby girl" She could hear the smile in his voice causing her to break into a smile as well
Hearing his voice after so long caused butterflies to her stomach and an ach in her chest knowing it would be another three weeks before she saw him again.
No one knew about their relationship as they had kept it hidden since he had asked her out at the start of their sophomore school year. They kept up appearances at school but every chance they got they would spend every moment together. He listened to her talk about her dreams and about Broadway for hours on end and she would help him study for his GED tests. Even though she did not approve of him not wanting to finish his schooling she accepted his choices and promised not to tell anyone what he was doing. She was even prouder of him when he passed all five of his GED test at the end of their sophomore year.
Basically they were exactly what the other had always been looking for and they were not only perfect for each other but they needed the other as neither could imagine what they would do without the other.
"Noah I miss you so much" Rachel said softly forcing herself not to cry about how hard it was to be able to hear him but not be able to touch or see him.
It was hard enough when he was leaving for his road trip neither of them wanted him to go but he had promised his friends and she wasn't about to let him break a promise seeing as he had been looking forward to going for weeks it was the fact of actually having to say goodbye to each other even though it was only for a few weeks.
"I know baby I know I miss you to" He said sadly
"Please come home soon" She begged even though she knew he wasn't coming for another three weeks she still wished it could be sooner and she couldn't help herself as the words spilled from her mouth.
"Rach you know I want to you know I would be there with you if I could" He sounded like he was in pain but she couldn't quite tell so she ignored it
"I know Noah" She sighed
"Rach?… Baby could you do something for me?" He asked he almost sounded nervous like he didn't want to have to ask this.
"Of cause Noah what is it?" She asked happy to be able to do anything to make him happy
"Look after mum and Lily for me while I'm gone… please baby you have to promise me you will look after them" He pleaded in a voice she had never heard come out of his mouth before and it scared her
"Of cause I will Noah you know I will" She said hesitantly
"And you have to promise me something" He said
"Anything" He was actually starting to scare her a lot now
"I know I shouldn't be asking you to do this but I'm selfish and well Rach I need you to promise me that you will wait for me" He begged "I need you to be there when I get home whenever that is… I need you to wait for me Rach I just… Rach I just don't know what I would do if I knew you weren't there waiting for me to come home because I love you baby"
She was speechless even though she knew Noah loved her and even though she had told him she loved him so many times before this was the first time ever those words had actually left his mouth.
"Noah your scaring me" She whispered
"Don't be scared baby girl" He said in what was meant to be a reassuring voice but it wasn't reassuring for either of them "I promise I'll only ever be a phone call or a letter away but Rachel you have to promise me please promise me that you will wait for me I need to hear you say it"
"I promise I'll wait for you Noah… I'll be waiting for you to come home" She promised as she was scared of what would happen if she didn't say those words.
"I love you so much Rachel never forget that… if your ever having doubts ever second guessing us or yourself just look at that ring that's on the end of your necklace put it on and remember the promise I made you that day… that someday I don't know when but someday we will be together forever that we will get married and grow old together because you are my life Rachel and we will be together again someday baby I promise don't forget that… I will love you till the day I die Rachel Berry"
But before she could reply the line went dead.
End Flash Back
She understood now. Understood why he had been so adamant to get his GED because you cant get into the Army without one if you haven't completed your schooling and Graduated. She now understood why he had made her promise those things, she understood why he had been so insistent in going on this road trip in the first place she understood why he had basically proposed to her the day before he left. She understood why he was being so cryptic on the phone that night. She understood now because she knew he wasn't coming back not for a long time.
And with that she put on a fake smile helping Mary to her feet pocketing the letter and leading her into the house where she helped her sit down on the lounge before she went to ring her fathers… it was going to be a long day.