authors note: i am in the process of about 219301 other fics right now and then the news that Jesse is coming back spawned this. just a short little one shot. i know i'm super picky about how st. berry is written, so i hope this is good, since i've barely tried anything longer than a drabble for them.

"Rachel." The voice was familiar, one she was positive she would never hear again-not unless it was on a Broadway stage, or in movies, never directed towards her.

"Jesse?" she said, spinning around and coming face to face with him. "What-what are you doing back in Lima?"

"Well, I couldn't just let Vocal Adrenaline fail after last year's abysmal performance, now could I?" he grinned, and she could only bring herself to nod. She hadn't expected to see him back, not in Ohio. Sure, she had pictured running into him in New York at some point, when she was wildly successful and married to Finn and-Finn, she reminded herself, how she was supposed to be on her way to meet him.

"I don't really have time for his Jesse, I'm sorry, I have to go meet-"

"Finn," he assumed with a short nod, and while his eyes narrowed he didn't say a word against her boyfriend. Then again, he had rarely talked bad about Finn, knowing how Rachel felt towards him. I may not like that you have feelings for him, he had told her once, but I can't bring myself to tear down someone you obviously hold so close to your heart.

"Yes, Finn, my boyfriend," she said, though the last part was unnecessary.

"Let me take you out sometime," Jesse continued, and when Rachel raised an eyebrow in confusion, he let out a soft chuckle. "As friends. We can be friends, yes? We can catch up-you'll have to tell me about your plans on moving to New York, of course, and everything I've missed since last spring."

"As friends," she repeated, ignoring the stab to her heart it seemed to cause. "That sounds lovely, just-give me a call or something, and we'll meet up?" He nodded, leaning over and placing a small kiss on her cheek.

"You look beautiful as ever Rach," he said before turning and disappearing down the hall, gone as soon as he had appeared, leaving her to wonder if maybe she had imagined the whole thing.

"Santana just said she saw you and Jesse St. James talking," Finn stated as soon as Rachel walked in the choir room, half the room staring daggers at her.

"Yes," she responded evenly, going to sit next to her boyfriend, because that's what Finn was. Not Jesse, she had the choice and she had chosen Finn.

"Why?"

"Because he's leading Vocal Adrenaline now, and he wanted to catch up," Rachel responded as she settled in, trying to ignore how painfully obvious it was that the rest of the club was listening to their discussion.

"So now he's even more the enemy than before!" Finn cried out. "Remember what happened last time? Remember how he egged you and left you broken hearted?"

"Yes, Finn, I remember," she replied sharply. "I also remember him apologizing, and I also remember you doing the same things to me before. We were having a conversation, we weren't making out against the lockers, I wasn't spilling all of our plans for National's. We were talking."

"Looked like more than that to me," Santana chirped up, and Rachel turned to glare at her.

"You weren't in the conversation Lopez, and you're not in this one either. Maybe you should stay out of it for once," Rachel said, tired of being ganged up purely for whom she chose to speak to.

"Maybe you should stop ruining our chances at winning something for once just because he tells you you're talented," Kurt said snidely.

"You wouldn't even have a chance at winning something if it wasn't for me," Rachel replied just as snidely. Kurt opened his mouth to reply when Mr. Schuester walked in, completely oblivious to the confrontation in the room, and started talking about how they needed to buckle down for National's.

Rachel spent the next hour being glared at by pretty much everyone in the room.

"You're going to dinner with him?" Finn asked incredulously over the phone as she got ready.

"Yes, Finn, I'm going to dinner with Jesse," she sighed, throwing her clothing choices on her bed as she tried to figure out what shoes went best.

"Why would you do that?"

"Because he wants to catch up? Because we were friends? Because he wants to hear about my future without getting all mopey and sad even though it's your choice to stay behind?" Rachel accused, all too aware of this pattern that they were treading once more. How many times are you going to let yourself do this Rachel? How many times will you fall into the same routines?

"I don't like New York! I can't get into any of those schools, you know that!" Finn cried out.

"Yes, you could, if you had wanted it badly enough. But you don't want it, and Finn, that's fine, I'm done arguing about this. It's your future, but this is mine, and Jesse could prove to be a valuable asset to it."

"He doesn't want to help with your future Rachel, he wants to get in your pants," Finn argued.

"Well, then you'll just have to trust that I have a good judge of character and won't do anything of that nature, won't you?" Rachel shot back. "And if you can't, we have bigger problems than the return of Jesse."

"Maybe we do," Finn said quietly, and Rachel sat on the edge of her bed, clutching her phone in shock. She hadn't expected those words to come out of Finn's mouth, not after they fought so hard for each other the previous year.

"What are you saying Finn?" she finally let out, because there was no way this could wait until after her dinner with Jesse now.

"I'm saying maybe I don't like you going out with Jesse, and if I thought I could stop you, I would, but since I can't, and I don't trust the two of you, maybe we're done."

"Then I guess we're done," Rachel said simply, hanging up the phone and glancing at the clock, allowing herself some time before she had to go, trying to fight back tears and ultimately failing.

"I didn't think you were coming," Jesse smiled as he stood up to hug Rachel when she arrived, nearly a half hour late.

"Sorry," she said with a small smile, sliding in to the booth as he slid in across from her. "I was dealing with something."

"Finn?" Jesse guessed, and she hesitated before nodding.

"He won't be a bother, don't worry," she said quietly, grabbing at one of the breadsticks in front of her and breaking it in half. "So, tell me how it is you ended up back in Ohio? I would have thought for sure you would travel off and do something great."

He let out a small laugh, shaking his head. "I decided to stick around for a little bit longer, and when I heard that Vocal Adrenaline was once more without a coach, I offered my services. Of course, Carmel would have preferred someone with schooling, but it's only been a year and a half since I graduated. They remembered who I was, what a phenomenal star I was for the group. If I do say so, I think I've whipped the group into far better shape than they were last year."

"Well, you were always the best," Rachel grinned, feeling comfortable just listening to him talk.

The two carried on, Rachel telling him about her plans for Manhattan and how her acceptance to NYADA was probably the happiest day of her life, how she was leaving behind most of her friends-the only other one who had gotten into a New York school was Kurt, and things were tense between them these days, and she didn't expect them to get any easier now that her and Finn were over.

"Now that what?" Jesse asked, clearly taken aback. She hadn't even meant to let it slip out, had been determined to keep it inside until she could properly figure out how she felt about the whole thing.

"I didn't mean to, I was-"

"That's why you were late?" he asked quietly, and she nodded. "You could have just called me, rescheduled or something." He reached his hand across the table to rest on hers in a comforting fashion, and she was surprised once more how at ease she felt with him.

"I didn't want to ditch you because of problems with Finn," she answered calmly.

"Is that all it is? A problem?" She bit her lip, unsure of how to answer. She knew what he was really asking- Are you really done with Finn? Are you going to go back to him? Are you still going to chase him after everything you two have put each other through?

"No," she said firmly. While Finn may have been the one to end things with her, she knew in her heart that he did the right thing. "We can't fully trust each other, we want very different things, we're very different people."

"Are you sure?" Jesse questioned, and she nodded.

"Finn is in my past now," she said, determined to make this true. Her future was New York, and Broadway, and getting out of Lima. They always knew the two of them had a deadline, it just came quicker than either expected.

Jesse looked hesitant, as if he was fighting saying something, and curiosity got the better of Rachel. In all the years she had known Jesse, there were few times he looked hesitant or nervous, and she prodded him to speak his thoughts. "It's nothing," he said, trying to wave it away.

She let it slide for now, asking him more about Carmel and Vocal Adrenaline as he paid for their check and led them outside, sitting on the trunk of her car as they continued on with their conversations. After a while they fell into a comfortable silence, her head falling on his shoulder.

"Why did you come back?" she asked quietly, not daring to look at him. "And not the fake answer you supplied me with earlier, why did you really come back?"

"You," he said simply, an arm snaking around her waist. "It's always been you Rach." She smiled, content with his answer, and nodded.

"That's what I was hoping you'd say."