She loves him. She knows it. She's always known it. So why is she with Theo then? He loves her but he tries not to show it. So he sleeps around. Nothing's ever serious and it's given him a reputation as a player. He doesn't mind it, but he wonders if it's why she's with him. They've tried dating before but it just doesn't work, so they remain friends.

"Hey everyone, this is my boyfriend Theo," Lea smiled, introducing her new Broadway boyfriend to her friends. She sees the way Cory looks at him, but she pretends she doesn't. As they walk away, Chord turns to Cory.

"He seems nice," he states simply. Cory just rolls his eyes.

"Sure if you're into guys who look like they never shower," Cory mumbled as he walked onto set.

"Dude what's your problem with him? He's not that bad and if he managed to get someone like Lea, then he must be doing something right."

"I don't have a problem with him; I just think she could do better. She deserves better," Cory shrugged indifferently.

"Do you like her or something?" Chord asked; raising a curious eyebrow.

"What? No, of course not. Why would you ask that? I'm a stud. I don't fall in love with girls, I just sleep with them," he stated plainly, getting tired of Chord's interrogation. "Are you done with the questions now?"

"Look, the way I see it is, if you didn't have feelings for her, you wouldn't be getting jealous of her boyfriend." Cory knew he was right but he just shrugged it off like it was no big deal and walked away.

"Hey Cory, can I talk to you?" Lea knocked lightly on the door to his apartment. He debated with the idea for a few minutes before getting up to answer the door.

"Come in," he said simply, taking a step back to let her inside. She slowly walked inside, folding her hands in front of herself nervously. "So… what did you want?" He plopped down onto the couch with a sigh.

"Well as my closest friend on set, your opinion means a lot to me." Cory secretly smiled to himself, liking where this conversation was going. "And well, I wanted to get your opinion on Theo." She slowly lifted her head up to look at him. Cory was seething inside. How could she ask him something like this? Didn't she know how he felt about her? He was speechless; he had no idea what to say. On one hand, he knew he should tell her the truth, that he was in love with her and Theo could never give her what he could or love her like he did. But of course, his mouth and his head didn't say the same thing.

"Oh, well uh, he's cool I guess," he shrugged indifferently. "Why do you care how I feel about him?"

"Well I just… you know, wanted to make sure that things wouldn't be awkward on set whenever he comes to visit me. Plus, I just want us all to get along," she smiled hopefully over at him. Damn, it was just so hard to say no to that girl.

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan," he flashed her a fake smile, "you won't have to worry about me ever getting in the way of you two on set." It's not like that wasn't true. He planned to avoid them at whatever cost.

"How would you feel about us getting married?" Lea blurted out unexpectedly. Cory was shocked. His eyes widened with surprise. Did she just say what he thinks she said?

"Why the hell are you asking me about marriage?" He snapped at her, his gaze quickly turning into a glare.

"Well I.. I just… we've been dating for a while. It's a subject that's bound to come up. We're both ready to settle down and I just… wanted to make sure that my friends approved before I made any kind of big step like that," she said timidly, backing away as Cory stood up, pacing around the room.

"You haven't even been dating that long! How can you even think about marriage this soon?" He put his head in his hands, letting out a loud huff.

"Two years Cory, we've been dating for two years. And you know, I don't know /what/ your problem is but I just came by because I thought you out of all people would be happy for me. You're supposed to be my best friend. I guess I know I can't count on you anymore." And before Cory had the chance to reply Lea walked out, slamming the door behind her. Cory slunk back down onto the couch, sighing dramatically. There was no way he was going to let her make the mistake of marrying the wrong guy.

"I can't believe him! You would think he'd be happy for me, you know? He's supposed to be one of my best friends. If I can't even trust him to support me, how can I trust anyone else?" Lea let out an exasperated sigh, glancing over at Jon who had his hand on her back, rubbing her back soothingly.

"Maybe he's just jealous," Jon replied, wrapping his other arm around Lea's shoulder.

"Why would he be jealous?" She looked up at Jon, shaking her head in doubt.

"I-I don't know…" he knew the reason, hell /everybody/ knew the reason, but he didn't want to make Lea feel bad. "Maybe because you'd be getting married before him and you're younger than him?" Jon furrowed his eyebrows. Even /he/ knew it didn't make any sense.

"That doesn't make any sense," Lea stated.

"I know. Look Lea, you /know/ the reason he's upset. Think about it. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out." Okay, so /maybe/ she had a tiny little suspicion that he still had feelings for her, but it's not like they were serious or anything. He never loved her.

"Come on, I'll show you where I used to go to dinner with my family," she tugged on his coat, dragging him along the New York streets. They had come to do some press just as the show started to become a success. This was his first time in New York and who better to show him than her; someone who grew up here? She had no doubt he'd fall in love with the city as she had many years before. They spent all day going to her old hangout places, visiting the house she grew up in, even stopping by to say hello to some of her family. At the end of the night after dinner, he walked her over to her hotel room, stopping by the door to smile down at her.

"I had a really good time today. I feel special that I'm the only one who got the private tour of Lea Michele's past," he teased, nudging her with his shoulder gently.

"Well now you know all of the best places to go just in case you ever come here alone." He took a step closer to her, shoving his hands into his pocket.

"Thank you, really. It was a lot of fun," he smiled again, resting his hand on the door; their faces mere inches apart. He had to do it. They were flirting ever since they met. He needed to know if she felt the spark he did. So he took the chance. When she didn't pull away, he knew she felt it too. Her hand worked to open up the door, their lips still attached. Once they were inside, the kiss only got more heated. Clothes went flying off as quickly as possible and soon enough they were connected in the most intimate way possible. From that point on, there was no turning back, at least for him anyway.

"But it's not like he ever loved me or anything. We've hooked up a few times, but nothing serious ever came out of it. We knew feelings would only complicate things."

"Yeah, you might think that. But did /he/ know that?" She knew he was right. She knew there was a pretty good chance he had fallen for her. It was the whole reason they had broken up. Just as Lea was about to reply, she heard a knock on the door. She slowly got up and walked over to the door, answering it with a smile on her face.

"Theo! I thought you left for New York already." A warm smile embraced her features.

"I couldn't leave yet; not without asking you what I've been wanting to ask you." He sounded nervous.

"What is it?" Her eyes widened slightly, biting her lip with the slightest hint of what this was about. He got down on one knee, taking her hand in his.

"Lea Michele, will you marry me?"