Title: Slushied
Word Count:1552
Pairing: St. Berry
Setting: Canon- set during PoM
Description: Jesse gets treated to the traditional McKinley High welcome but doesn't react too well. Fortunately Rachel is on hand to help.
Fluff, fluff and a bit more fluff
Xxx
"Are you glad I'm here?"
She snuggles further under his arm, almost missing his words as they walk slowly down the hallways of McKinley High. She's glad of his presence, always will be she expects and likes the way that she fits into the crook of his shoulder so well. His arm around her shoulders is amazingly comforting and she looks up at him as they walk, cocking her head to one side.
"Of course I am, I'm surprised you even have to ask."
"It was just… in the choir room…"
She is surprised to see a flash of vulnerability run through his eyes and she pulls him to a stop, cupping his cheek and turning him to face her, forcing him to look straight into her eyes.
"I'm so glad you're here Jesse."
"Are you sure?" He places his hand over hers, his palm large and warm. "I was worried that you didn't want your team to know about us."
"I was worried," She admits, softly. "But now that you're here," She shrugs lightly. "I don't care what they think, so long as I have you."
He smiles at that, turning her hand in his and moving it so that he can press a tender kiss to her palm. "Good. I want to be here for you." He tucks her under his arm again and she snakes an arm around his waist.
"I can't believe you gave up another National title for me, Jesse. I think it's the most romantic things anyone has ever done for me." She tells him, looking up again and he meets her eyes.
"You're worth it." He promises her softly. "And as for romance," His smirks a little, the corner of his mouth lifting in a cocky grin. "Well I can promise you that there's a lot more of that in your future. After all, you deserve epic romance, remember?"
She giggles softly, but a frown blemishes her forehead as she thinks and he prompts her. "What is it?"
"What about UCLA?" She seems concerned, her hand tightening around his waist. "Don't they want that National title?"
He laughs slightly. "Don't worry, they already accepted me. They can't take that back. Plus they want me Rache, not my National titles. True, the titles help, but they want me."
"Good," She snuggles into him further. "As much as I would love the gesture, I couldn't allow you to give up your college acceptance for me."
They come to a stop at her locker, where she fumbles with the key, finally managing to get her door open and shoving her books inside. He leans over her, peering inside and laughs again, this time louder.
"You have a picture of me in your locker?"
She flushes deeply, slamming it shut quickly and sinning around to look at him.
"I… I uh…"
"Don't worry," He runs a sweet hand over her lips, silencing her mumblings. "It's cute. I wish I had one that I could put up of you."
"Really?" She gapes at him in surprise.
"Yeah," He tucks her under his arm again. "I'd put it next to my calendar."
"You still have that?" Her mouth falls open so far that she thinks her jaw will snap.
"Of course," He scoffs. "How else are we supposed to organise our dates around our heavy schedules of practice and lessons? I want as much time as you with possible."
She can't speak and he smiles at her again.
"Hey! St. James!"
He turns instinctively at the sound of his name being called, before Rachel has time to warn him and is hit squarely with the icy beverage. The sticky mixture of corn syrup, ice and blue dye number 6 ricochets off his face, a few specks landing on Rachel, but she barely reacts, watching as Jesse splutters for a moment.
Then, to her complete shock, he dives away from her and slams the laughing jock against the lockers opposite them, holding him there as the laughter around them fades. He looks sort of ridiculous, with blue liquid dripping off him, but he is still ferocious as he snarls.
"Hey, you got some of this stuff on my girlfriend."
"Whoa, dude let me go." The jock tried to struggle, but Jesse doesn't give at inch, his saturated face getting dangerously close to the jock's as he snarls again, slamming his further into the locker.
"I said, apologise to my girlfriend."
"Okay, okay," The jock splutters. "I'm sorry!"
"Well Rachel?" Jesse looks around at where she stands, paralysed with shock, by her locker.
"I… That… That's okay…" She manages to squeak and Jesse slams the jock into the lockers again, a slight groan escaping him at the impact.
"You're lucky," He hisses, furiously. "That my girlfriend is so forgiving. But trust me, next time I won't go so easy on you."
Stepping away, the jock stumbles away from him through the crowds, who scramble to move away from him, trying to act as if they saw nothing as Jesse, still dripping, makes his way back to Rachel.
"You okay?" He asks and she can only nod, gaping at him.
"What… what is this stuff?" He catches a droplet of bright blur slushie on his finger and looks at it with disgust.
Putting her arm around him, not caring about the liquid, Rachel leads him into the otherwise deserted girl's bathroom. Sitting him on a plastic chair by the sink, she urges him to lean his head back, filling the sink with warm water.
"It's slushie," She explains, as she wets his hair, running her hands through it gently, trying to tease out the small tangles and pieces of ice before they get stuck.
"And this is… what… normal?" He gapes at her as she nods.
"Pretty normal," She admits quietly, focusing more on his hair. She's not really run her fingers through his hair that much before. It's normally so meticulous that she wouldn't dare to, but, as she washes it as best she can, she feels that she could get used to it.
"Here," She prompts him up again and takes a couple of paper towels from the dispenser, folding them carefully into quarters and wetting them in the warm water, passing them to him. "Wash your face. If you give me your shirt I'll wash it and dry it for you." She doesn't think about the consequences of her words until he smirks at her, bringing his hands down and pulling the hem of his shirt up and over his head, exposing a toned chest. She already knows that he has good core strength, from her times partnered with him in dance class and the episode outside in the corridor, but she has never seen his wondrous body before and although she is flushing, she can't help but stare.
His laughter pulls her out of her thoughts and she blushes again, reaching out to take his shirt and waist coat and washing the waist coat first, as it is easier. The light shirt is harder, the blue colour refusing to budge and he talks to her as she scrubs, washing his face and neck of the sticky dye.
"So this has happened to you before?"
"Quite a lot," She's still too embarrassed to look at him, but she can imagine the expression he's pulling.
"Rachel," His arms come around her waist and she turns to look at him, blushing even more when she comes face to face with his bare chest. "I promise I will never let that happen to you again."
"Thank you," She tells him and, daringly, presses a kiss to his bare collar bone. "Thank you for what you did."
"Any time Rache, any time."
She tries to dry his shirt under the hand drier, hoping it will make the blue run out, but it stays put and she sighs finally, turning back to him.
He looks concerned and she asks. "What's wrong?"
"I've made you miss your lesson. I have a free, but it's not fair on you."
"It's alright," She steps towards him, smiling widely, but then her smile drops as she hands him his shirt. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't get it out."
"It's fine," He smiles at her and reaches into his bag. "Good thing I have dance rehearsal today right?" He pulls out a black t shirt to show her and goes to put it on, but before he can she leans forward and kisses him, her hand going to rest on his bare chest, directly above his heart.
"Thank you," She tells him again, when she pulls away and his eyes are soft when he says.
"Anything for you Rachel."
He pulls his t shirt on and she tried to repress her sigh of regret as his toned chest is once again covered. He laughs, apparently hearing her and goes to stand behind her again, wrapping his arms around her waits and pulling her close. He presses a soft kiss to her neck and then to the crown of her head and then looks in the mirror in front of them. An annoyed moan slips past his lips and she frowns in concern.
"What's wrong?"
"My hair Rache! Look what they did to my hair."
Xxx
I have zero excuses for writing this instead of writing what I should be writing, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.
I liked writing it, it was fun.
Leave me a quick review to tell me what you think? Thank you :)
~ Ray
