Despite how many movie premiers that Jesse had been to since his debut on Broadway, the bright lights, the glamour, and obviously the attention never failed to amaze him. He loved being in the center of everybody's attention, he loved the black dots that lingered in his eyes from the camera flashes, and God, he even loved the damn paparazzi. He loved getting dressed up in designer suits and being interviewed, he loved the red carpet, he loved being surrounded by countless numbers of stars that were even more well known than he was. However, while going to such events alone was all good and fine, there was one thing that made the whole endeavor all the more enjoyable, and that was attending with his best friend Rachel.
Ever since they starred in Spring Awakening together, their names were often seen as a package deal. Despite how many times they had to say it, many media sources claimed that they were hooking up behind the scenes of the musical. Sure, perhaps 6 months ago, the case may have been different, but the couple had split up what seemed like forever ago. However, even though he knew that questions regarding their nonexistent relationship were inevitable, Jesse wasn't going to let the petty media snobs ruin the experience of attending a movie premier with Rachel.
...That is, if they could /get/ to the premier. Dressed in a suave tux and his hair style on point, Jesse sat on the couch in his condo, clearly annoyed, sighing loudly. After several minutes, he went to the bathroom door, knocked, and said with an irritated tone of voice,
"Rachel, I /told/ you not to drink all that goddamn Pepsi! We are going to be late. We are practically already late. I am going to leave your pissing-ass here if you don't hurry up in there. You're gonna flood my house with urine at this rate." he said with a sigh

Once she heard that both her and Jesse were invited to a movie premier, she jumped at the opportunity and didn't wait for them to reply to her message that insisted that they were both free although her and the glee club had a meeting that next day, for Sectionals, she didn't care. This was a big opportunity for the both of them and if anybody dared told her that she had to decline the offer. She'd throw an Diva fit.

It had been exactly almost a whole six months since their break-up, Rachel still found it at times awkward and uncomfortable to be in the same room with her best friend, former boyfriend and she didn't want to feel that way but there was a tiny part inside of her that had a tiny bit of a crush on him, considering his recent exercise routine that had his body more tone and muscular. Often, Rachel was found oggling the young male while he was stretching during rehearsals when his shirt pulled up or the smallest detail like when he held onto her during an performance when he would look into her eyes while saying his lines.

Hearing his voice from outside the door had the brunette jump three feet in the air for though she thought he had caught her thinking about him, but he wouldn't know any of that because he wasn't in her mind, right? Running the water for a bit longer, Rachel looked into the mirror with a look that could kill if anyone was inside the mirror. It was a look that could easily say that she was done with someones bullshit or simply that she was game on this attempt to embarrass her.

"No matter what happens tonight, you are Rachel Berry and you look beautiful no matter who talks crap about you, and makes you feel like you're not good enough. Because you Rachel Barbra Berry are worth it and you are good enough. Don't let what others say about your life ruin your mood." Rachel spoke to herself through the mirror as she put on one last coat of red lipstick, hiking up her dress as she pushed open the door to look at Jesse with a small smile. "I'm ready"

It was undeniable, that both the brown haired boy and girl had chemistry, and not a soul ever tried to deny that. However, what nobody truly knew, was that though Jesse's feelings for Rachel dimmed, they never went out. If time were controlled by him alone, he would go back and take everything that happened in High School back from the universe and simply start anew. If it meant compromising Carmel High's victory, so be it. There was always a lingering feeling of guilt that lingered in his heart, but he would be damned if even a single person knew that.

As he stood outside of the door, leaning against the wall, his head leaning backward, he could hear Rachel's little self-motivation speech, and that made him smile softly, looking down at the ground. When the young lady opened the door, he looked down at her, reciprocating the smile, not saying a word. He couldnt just say she was beautiful, that was so...flirtatious. There was nothing between them. For once, he had to force himself to think of somebody other than himself, for he knew Rachel was done with him, and would never go back. Whether he was to move on was his decision and his alone.

Snapping out of his gaze on the girl's silver high-split dress that made her caramel legs peek out with every step, he looked up at her, put on a casual, cheery expression and said,

"Alright, you ready? Now maybe we can get there before Doris Day keels over." he said with a teasing smirk as he opened the door, car keys in hand.

No compliment, or anything? She normally never looked as good as she did now, and to have him skip over even just a nod of his head in approval of her choice of dress was like a slap in the face, and she wasn't the least bit happy about it. It was not only disrespectful but unhuman like of ANY male to not even compliment a young woman like herself. Jesse sure had some guts to pull that one on her, and if they weren't already late to the premier, she would have been tackled the male to the ground and demanded him to tell her she's pretty.

"Hurry up, you're going to make us more late and if we don't leave right now, my fans aren't going to be happy and they're going to want to track you down and feed you to the flames that I made from lighting your Catherine Zeta Jones postered that you had signed a couple years ago. Don't mess with me or you will regret it St. James." the brunette's nose twitched which meant that she was totally lying but the only person who would know that was her ex girlfriend Quinn whom didn't talk to her at all besides at the local supermarket.

Even if she hadn't been joking about lighting up his prized possession, it would be total payback from when they had dated back in high school and the young male had not only used her to put her whole glee club in a funk, but had his glee club throw eggs at her as well. He had finished it off by smashing it in her hair and he had yet to receive her forgiveness over it due to getting flashbacks as well as nightmares every now and then. Also, she couldn't go near the dairy section at the store without seeing a carton of eggs without seeing him with an evil smirk on his face as he broke the shell in her hair.

Although she was still mad at him for doing that to her and it had been years since the event had happened, Rachel knew that he was sorry for it and he regretted it each and every day.

He could see it in the brunette's eyes that refraining from comment had hurt the girl, and though hurting the girl was honestly the last thing he wanted to do to her, he refrained once more. Making a somewhat exaggerated gasp and a look of utter terror, he said, "You would not. You do that, and all of your Barbra Streisand albums will be Barbra Streiashes.".

Hopping into his grey Subaru Legacy, he patted the seat next to him, a light smile on his face. "Luckily we get to leave in a Limo." he said to her in an attempt to lighten the dreary mood. He gripped his steering wheel, feeling undeniably guilty for not giving the girl sitting next to him the compliment she very well deserved. Despite Jesse's stone-cold demeanor, he truly did have a soft hear when it came to the people he cared about. Even if Rachel and his' relations were strictly friendly, he couldnt help but care for her deeply.

Midway through the drive, he decided to turn on the radio, clicking through his go-to stations, until a familiar tune hummed through his speakers. It wasn't. It couldnt be. What were the chances?

After a piano solo, Leonel Richie's silk smooth vocals filled the car, and the legendary "Hello" being played. Jesse didn't mean to, but he grinned ear to ear with memories of high school, and the best of it, meeting Rachel being one of the triumphs.