Hi guys! So this is my first ever fanfic, so please be kind! I'm a massive St. Berry shipper and if the writers have any sense they'll put Jonathan Groff on for the full of season 4! Would love some reviews and some hints and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!

Summer Is Over

Jesse St. James strummed his fingers over the piano keys of the grand piano that sat on the stage of the National Show Choir championship stage in Chicago. Only a few hours ago did he lose to Will Schuester's marginally talented bunch of misfits in the Show Choir finals. He could not deny, however, the talent of one Rachel Berry, the girl who stole his heart from the moment she began to sing Barbra's Don't Rain on My Parade at sectionals just two years ago. He sighed inwardly as he reflected on the love he once had, cursing at himself for giving it up so easily, and all for a win at nationals.

He was happy, however, that he had the chance to speak to Carmen Tibideaux on Rachel's behalf, even if it was without her knowledge. She was and is a star, and deserves to be in NYADA no matter what may have happened in her audition. He smiled; thinking of her performance of It's All Coming Back. It was simply stunning, a true testament to her vocal ability and to be honest, it blew him away. He could feel her pour all her heart and soul into it while she sang, even outdoing Celine herself.

He remembers how she looked at him when she sang

But when you touch me like this
And you hold me like that
I just have to admit
That it's all coming back to me

There was something in her eyes when she sang those words, as if she was searching for him, as if she was reminiscing on their time together. His face softened and he felt the guilt and remorse over how he cruelly treated her, his throat hitched in his body, unable to move or speak, spellbound by her voice. He returned to the present, as he sat softly playing the keys to bridge of Jon Mc Laughlin's Summer Is Over.

Jesse failed to notice the onlooker from the side of the stage. Still dressed in her performance outfit, Rachel Berry looked across the stage to her former boyfriend and noticed him sigh. She frowned, wondering what he was upset about. She thought it could've been his defeat that day at nationals, but then backtracked on her initial thought. He looked sad, almost well, if it was even possible for a soulless automaton to be, heartbroken. Her brows furrowed upwards as she took the step towards the piano and out of the shadows.

Jesse heard the click of her heels before he noticed her. He stopped playing and looked up, taken away by her beauty but noticing how her face was covered in concern. She quickly put on her show face and spoke

"Hi Jesse"

"Rachel" he nodded "What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be celebrating?"

"I was, but I forgot my make up bag in the dressing rooms, and I heard the piano, so I thought I'd come investigate" she smiled

"Disappointed?" he asked playfully

"No" she smiled "I actually hoped I'd run into you again before we left, I wanted to express my congratulations on a job well done, Vocal Adrenaline were amazing"

"You were just that bit better" he smiled

"It was a team effort" she replied walking around the piano, Jesse's gaze following her every footstep

"But you stole the show" he said ruefully "I must admit, that Celine number outshone even the mighty Barbra herself"

Rachel chuckled and her cheeks reddened "Well it was really my last chance to impress Carmen Tibideaux. She was in the audience you know? She made it in just before the chorus"

Jesse smiled back at her, noticing the redness in her cheeks, happy he had made her blush. He still had that effect on her!

"I noticed, and I have a feeling that you'll be seeing your NYADA acceptance letter in the mail any day soon" he said coyly

"Lets hope so" she replied

"Remember you singing Don't Cry For Me Argentina isn't a possibility, it's an inevitability, this is just your first step towards this"

Rachel leaned against the piano on Jesse's left, smiling inwardly at his belief and faith in her. Despite everything that had happened between them he still believed that her dreams would come true. Avoiding the question she was desperate to ask, she enquired as to which song he had been playing before she interrupted.

"It's Summer Is Over by Jon McLaughlin; care to join me in the rendition? If my memory serves me right you and I once made a great duet couple"

At the mention of couple, Rachel faltered and stiffened.

"Uh...I better not, the rest of the team will probably be wondering where I am"

Catching on Jesse replied "You mean Finn will be wondering where you are"

"Eh...yea, it was nice talking to you Jesse" and she began to walk away

"Rachel wait!" Jesse jumped up from the piano and hurried after her, catching her hand before she made it off the stage. Rachel froze at the contact, like a jolt of electricity sped up her arm. Jesse felt it too and felt that now was his only chance

"I love you"

Rachel spun around at his words, shock written all over her face

"Ever since I met you I knew that we were meant to be, and I know that I've hurt you but we're soul mates Rachel, I know it and you know it, you can't deny that we sing together that its unlike anything else, nothing can compare to it"

Rachel dropped her head; her brain trying to register all that had just been said to her. Jesse's hand still was clutched around hers and although she knew she should break the contact between the two of them, she didn't want to; she knew he was right; their voices were incomparable when they were joined together, although she hated to admit it, their voices made magic unlike hers and Finn's.

Finn.

"Jesse I can't, I'm engaged to Finn, I love him" she said quietly, head still facing her feet.

He released his grip on her arm, stung by her words. He turned around covering his mouth with one hand and running his other through his meticulously combed hair. But Jesse St. James wasn't known to give up easily.

"Sing with me, please" he pleaded "Please and then you can go"

Rachel felt conflicted. She knew she should be getting back to the team, but when she saw Jesse flash his adorable blue eyes at her, she was lost to him.

"Fine, but then I have to go" she sighed, she knew she was walking into trouble

Jesse flashed her a smile. His plan was working, luckily the song that he had been playing applied perfectly to both their positions. He just hoped that she would realise by the end of it that he was the one for her and not that oaf Hudson, who he unwittingly knew would hold her back from New York and Broadway. He began to play, starting quietly and slowly building the tempo. Rachel stood to the left of the keys unsure of what Jesse's motive was, but quickly forgot about it once he began to sing

Autumn never seemed this cold before
Here I am sleeping on the floor

Rachel joined him

We changed just like the leaves –"does this mean he's actually changed?" she thought to herself
Outside my house
And my phone lay silent by the couch

And I Remember June – crooned Jesse
Back when I met you – she remembered that fateful day at the music store, the image of them singing mirrored this very moment
And your eyes were green
And we were two – their voices joined in harmony

But Summer is over
We were tangled in the morning sun
Felt you getting colder
And we knew that we would come undone

And it's back to my town
Back to your life
Grey skies are blowing a kiss goodbye
To the lovers
Cause Summer is over

Jesse continued to play into the next verse, but Rachel was confused, he wasn't singing about their relationship, he was singing about her and Finn's.

I can still see your silhouette
in the white house sand

I still feel your ring on my hand – Rachel twisted the now heavy ring on her finger
And the clock was always ticking down
Behind that glass
Singing love be good while you last

But we both knew
What we were getting into
And the things we said
(sounded true)
Sounded true - Both of them remembered their time together and a smile grew on Rachel's face

But summer is over
We were tangled in the morning sun
Felt you getting colder
And we knew that it would come undone

And it's back to my town
Back to your life
Grey skies blowing a kiss goodbye to the lovers
Cause Summer is over

The distant innocence
That we are leaving far behind
Your last words will be burning in my mind – He looked over at her, and she thought of when he told her he loved her
In the wintertime….

Well Summer is over
We were tangled in the morning sun
Felt you getting colder
And we knew that it would come undone

And it's back to my town
Back to your life
Grey skies blowing a kiss
Goodbye…
Goodbye….

Cause Summer is over
We were tangled in the morning sun
Felt you getting colder
And we knew that we would come undone

And it's back to my town
Back to your life
Grey skies blowing a kiss goodbye to the lovers
Cause Summer is over
Summer is over

Jesse finished the song with slowly, not wanting the harmony and joy of singing with Rachel to be over. He looked up and expected her to walk away, but she stood there with a smile across her face. Rachel had made her decision.

"You're right" she said

"Excuse me?" he replied, confused as to what she was referring to.

"This ring is getting heavy on my hand, it has been for some time and I think now is the time to say goodbye….to Finn"

Elation swept all over Jesse, but he put on his show face, unwilling to let his brain hear what his heart was telling him. Rachel had chosen him, finally! After all this time, it was him, him and him alone that owned her heart not some pathetic excuse of a football jock.

"Do you mean…?" he pressed cautiously

"Yes Jesse, it's you, it's always been you"

And with that Jesse swept her up off her feet and spun her around, both of them laughing at each other. His face was nuzzled around her neck and he smelt her lavender shampoo, a smell that brought back so many wonderful memories. They stopped spinning and they looked at each other, Jesse's arms wrapped around her waist, her arms nestled around his neck. He smiled a wide happy grin.

"What?" she pressed still half laughing with her head cocked to the side. "I just never thought that this day would come, that it would actually happen. I've dreamed of it since last year, that I would somehow win you back – wait, does this mean you forgive me?"

"Jesse, I forgave you the minute you walked back into my life last year, but right now I should be apologising to you" dropping her head as she said it, humiliated by her actions the year before "I never should have kissed Finn last year, especially when you and I had begun…well I don't know what it was but it was unfair to you to do it and –"

Before she could continue Jesse leaned forward and captured her lips in a sweet but tender kiss. It lasted only a few seconds, but to Jesse and Rachel it felt like an eternity, like two lost souls finally finding each other after a century apart. Jesse broke away from her "There's no need to apologise Rachel, we've both done things in the past that we both regret, but now we can continue with our lives. Together" and at this Rachel smiled, a warm fuzzy feeling growing in her chest.

"Together" she repeated, and once again the true lovers found themselves wrapped in each other. They broke apart for air a few moments later.

"What do we do now" he asked

"I need to break things off with Finn" she replied "So this" she gestured to the both of them "will have to be put on hold until I can get that sorted"

"Hmph, you know how I hate to wait" he teased. "Believe me" she replied "It'll be worth the wait, I remember you referring to our love as epic? Just keep thinking about that. Right now, however, I need to go"

"No, no you don't, we only got back together" he complained. She put her face close to his and ever so sweetly, placed a soft kiss on his lips, a taster she thought, of what surely was to come. "Yes, yes I do, the team will be looking for me if I don't go back soon and I really don't want them to end up sending out a search party only to find the two of us together, Santana might go all Lima Heights on us" she said playfully.

"Fine" he sighed releasing her from his grasp "I guess I can wait a little bit longer for the two of us to be together"
"It won't be too long, I promise" she replied, and before she turned on her heel, she place another kiss on his lips before slipping away in between the stage curtains.

Jesse stared after her, a huge smile on his face before he returned to the piano, began to play the opening keys of Hello and thought of their future together. It would be wonderful, he knew it.