A/N: So this is supposed to be the last part, but the ending is kind of vague. However, I really have no thoughts on a continuation of the story, so...for now, I guess this is it. Thanks for reading!

Rachel Berry bowed graciously to the decent applause she received as she finished her set, then retreated to the back room where she changed back into slacks and a blouse before finding a place at the bar. She always allowed herself one martini on performance nights; Kurt insisted the reward system was imperative for starving artists.

"Still not lacking for pipes," a familiar voice commented, sidling up next to her.

The tiny brunette looked up, the face next to her causing her face to widen in happy surprise. "Noah!" she exclaimed, smiling widely. "It's been years—I'm so happy to see you. What are you doing here?"

"Just rolling through Berry—I mean Hudson," he told her, pausing to reflect. "Wow that sounds weird."

Rachel's head ducked down as she blushed. "Actually, you were right the first time," she corrected him quietly. "It's Berry."

She kept her face down so she wouldn't have to see his face double back toward her, eyebrows shooting up incredulously. She knew that she and Finn were the couple that everyone expected to stick it, and she tensed for the pelting of questions that always seemed to follow since their initial separation, and subsequent divorce, finalized just six months ago.

"Well, huh," was all he replied, to her surprise. She waited a moment, then looked up as he sipped his drink. "So what are you doing now then?"

She smiled, grateful for the reprieve from her failed marriage. "Well, I've recently transferred schools—Music Major in NYU, same as Blaine—and rooming with him and Kurt while Kurt finishes his Musical Theater Program in NYADA." She'd been surprised how easily Kurt had taken her in when she'd shown up at his door, but her ex-brother-in-law had been nothing but supportive of her move, insisting that if Finn had ever loved her he would get over it and be happy for her. "And in the meantime, I get extra practice and a little income doing this," she gestured to the small stage to the side of the facility.

"Singing lounge acts though? I figured you for nothing less than Broadway," he pushed.

"I've received an internship as an assistant for the Into The Woods production come summer," she told him, choosing to not tell him how many auditions she'd already gone to and been rejected from. "I'm hoping that it will help establish contacts, which will help me on my way to stardom."

"And yourself?" she asked, taking a sip of her martini. "What have you been pursuing since graduation?"

Puck ran a hand through his shaved head—he'd gotten rid of the mowhawk years ago. "Construction, mostly—never really was the studious type, so I decided to skip the higher learning. I'm actually helping out a contractor buddy of mine down in Jersey right now, so I decided to check out the Big Apple while I was here."

As the night wore on, they continued babbling about nothing. Rachel proudly told Puck about Kurt's upcoming workshop as dentist Orin Scrivello in an Off-Broadway production of Lil' Shop of Horrors, and Blaine was assisting a producer at a small record label. Puck, in turn, told Rachel all about Beth starting school and being just as much of a badass as he ever was, but with an angelic smile that would let her get away with murder.

"So what happened Berry?" Puck finally asked, downing the last of his newest shot. "I mean, last I heard you and Hudson were having your happy ever after thing back in Ohio."

"Happy endings are only interludes in between Acts, Noah," she replied, smiling dryly. "Haven't you ever watched Sondheim?"

"Uh, no," he told her.

"I did love him," she continued, more to herself than the boy sitting next to her. "I did—I gave everything I had to that relationship, adjusted my whole life so that it became ours. But I couldn't completely ignore what I wanted, what I thought was right—could I?" Rachel stayed away from details when she talked about her and Finn—especially now, when the boy that worked harder than anything for a child that people tried to keep away from him was the one sitting in the next chair, listening to her story.

"Gotta do what you gotta do, Rache," he told her, signaling the bartender for another drink.

"What about you?" she parried back. "You didn't ride off into the sunset with your forbidden rose?"

He knew she purposely wouldn't bring up Shelby's name; it was still kind of weird that Puck had been serious with Rachel Berry's mother, regardless of her MILF status.

"Nah;" he answered, tilting back his glass. "Once we realized that the only thing we had that really clicked was Beth, it just became…harder. Too hard." He didn't mention the bad times—they'd gotten through them in the end, and Shelby was fine now—they'd figured out a good custody arrangement so Beth would see them both and it seemed to be working okay. Berry didn't need to know. Nobody really needed to know.

"I'm sorry, Noah; I know you cared for her."

"It's fine—really," he insisted. "She's doing good, teaching music and theater and shit."

The two sat in silence for a minute, pondering their drinks, until the petite brunette scoffed.

"How does it happen that you're always around when the worst moments of my life are occurring?" Rachel asked, downing the last of her shot.

"Luck, I guess," he replied, smiling down on her tiny form. He grinned a little wider at her involuntary laugh. "Come on, Berry; we're a couple of hot Jews destined to continue running into each other. It's God's way of making sure neither of us gets permanently derailed."

Rachel smiled at that idea—that besides Kurt (and by extension Blaine) there was someone out there destined to continue looking out for her. "Then I suppose here's to friendship," she commented, raising her empty glass.

"God's ultimate buddy system," he agreed, clinking his own to hers.